Soulmates? No Way!
by Cerenaaa
Summary: As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize that her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon.
1. Chapter 1: Senior Year

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p><span>Chapter 1<span>

I, Adeline 'Addie' Rosewood, was finally a senior.

I attended a private school in Brownwoods, California, called NW Academy. You see, admissions into my school was a bit tricky. Tricky as in, you'd have to be born a certain species. Specifically, you'd have to be a natural born Night Person.

Only witches, lamia, shape-shifters and werewolves were allowed to grace our wonderful halls. I happened to come from a family of witches. NWA was the only school in this whole country that only admitted Night People. They have campuses for all grades from preschool to college. Outsiders usually think NW stands for North West. It actually and way too obviously stands for Night World.

Now, you would think that a school full of night people would be really different than a regular school. Like, we'd have clubs where we stalked humans and laughed at their stupidity, and have co-curricular activities where we flew broomsticks for sport.

Sadly, that was not the case. My school was, in many ways, exactly like every other high school out there. Sure, NWA had some special Night World related classes and all but... We also played classic american football and we even had a social high school hierarchy. It's not even a supernatural racist hierarchy.

No. It was way worse. It was the whole cliché. The hottest and most popular kids in school were made up of cheerleaders and jocks. Oh, and of course, your occasional super-rich kid with serious family connections.

I am not kidding.

Like every other cliché story, I happened to be somewhere around the bottom of my high school food chain. This was based solely on the fact that I was stupid enough to stand up for the human community. We had a class on human history and everybody was putting down Leonardo Da Vinci because he was human. I liked his work, and I made the mistake of saying so out loud. Thus, my years of high school torture began as the vermin sympathizer. Yay me.

Luckily for me, I survived my days through NWA with my best friend, Belle. Belle was also a witch, and a pretty rockin' one at that. She didn't get _too_ much hell for hanging out with me. Well, at least not as much hell as I got for _being_ me.

Like every other school day, Belle drove over to pick me up in her blue convertible.

"Hey Addie! Ready to go?"

"Ready as always on a first day."

As we drove to school, Belle brought up the topic of soulmates.

"You know, recently I've been hearing this talk about soulmates. That the whole soulmate principle is real and that lately, people are discovering their one true loves," she said.

I have to admit, it was corny but I've always believed in soulmates. I mean, I was a witch in a community full of supernatural people. Why wouldn't soulmates exist? I always imagined mine to be tall, dark and handsome. He'd be romantic and strong. He'd be artistic, and I would be his muse. He'd also have an exotic accent that would send me straight to the moon every time he spoke. Ahh...

"Soulmates... I'd love to meet mine now," I said, wrapped in my daydream.

"I wonder how it feels when you meet a soulmate… I bet it'd be magical," she sighed.

Belle and I eventually got into a deep discussion about our perfect fantasy soulmate traits until we arrived through the gates of NW Academy. We found a parking spot easily and the first day of school seemed well. That is until we got out of the car.

Carla Redfern walked past us with her fellow cheerleader minions. Oops, I mean friends.

"Oh look, Addie, you're still here! I hoped you would be in some human school this year. But... I guess even they would kick you out," she said to me.

Without another word and a sarcastic smile, she walked away and her friends followed, shooting me disgusted looks.

What sucks is that Carla and I used to be close friends ever since we were little. We went junior high together in a human school and made our way into NWA for high school.

Carla made the cheer squad and I wasn't really the cheerleading type. We were still close when the Da Vinci incident came around but one day Carla decided to turn on me. To be accepted by her new friends, she dissed me openly in public and we never spoke again. Until the next week when she passed a rude remark about my choice of clothing. She bought me the skirt I was wearing. Soon, it became a regular thing and we drifted from best friends to enemies.

Then sometime later, I met this outgoing brunette witch. I was sitting alone during lunch, as usual, when she decided to sit next to me. She just sat next to me, despite the whispers and rumors about me, and introduced herself. She's always been pretty badass that way. I was glad that Belle did that for me. I still am glad.

Belle rolled her eyes and said, "the jealous bitch of vampire strikes again."

"Too bad there isn't much to be jealous of," I replied.

I wasn't exactly putting myself down. I wasn't one of those girls who loved the popular girls and hated themselves for it. As much as I didn't like it, the fact was true. Carla was simply better than me in so many ways. Carla was a natural born lamia that was directly related to the Redfern family. Redfern status was worshiped in the Night World. She was also seriously rich and well connected. In addition to this, she became obscenely gorgeous in the few years of high school that we weren't friends. That was probably because she was a Night Person and a vampire. Though that was when I began to wonder... Why was I stuck in this body? Why does she get to be tall, tanned, and blonde, with gorgeous blue eyes while I'm stuck with dull black hair, average height, pasty white skin, and mud colored eyes?

Belle begged to differ. She thought my eyes were like chocolate.

"C'mon Addie! You're an all powerful witch, and she's just some silly, bloodsucking, dumb blonde," she said.

I mean, I guess that was sort of true. I thought about it a little, and the bad points about Carla started to flow through my mind. Carla was after all, quite dumb. Or at least she acted dumb. It was all probably an act for her head cheerleader status, because the Carla I knew in middle school was a very smart girl. This high school Carla was also way too involved with on-again, off-again, super-jock boyfriend, Blake Tarragon. Blake came in second in my list of most hated people, below Carla.

The reason was because he was just a plain douchebag. It didn't matter to me how good looking he was or how popular he was. Behind those crystal colored eyes, blonde air and pretty face was an annoying and narcissistic jerk.

Usually Belle and I tried to avoid all forms of contact with Carla, Blake, and the rest of the popular gang at NWA. It was normally not a hard thing to do. They barely talked to anybody outside of their circle, unless it was to make fun of someone. Unfortunately, that someone was usually me and I always fell for it.

This year was going to be different. I made it my personal goal to spend senior year just ignoring them, and focusing on myself and my own personal growth.

Thanks to my luck though, I ended up being stuck with one of them for the rest of the semester.


	2. Chapter 2: Poems and Projects

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p>Hey Guys!<p>

So.. for now, I'll still be continuing this story. No major changes. Thanks for the reviews! I hope you enjoy (:

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><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

"Now, you will read your poems out to the class. Starting with Miss Rosewood," Mr. Oak said.

Yes, of course, it was me again. Always me. Why did the world enjoy picking on me so much?

I walked to the front of the classroom and held up my notebook. Looking around the room, I guess I didn't have much to worry about as bored and sleepy faces crowded the seats in front of me.

"This poem is called _Temporary. _Since our topic is Inspiration, my poem about getting over difficult times."

"Let's hear it," Mr. Oak said.

I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second. I really didn't want to read the poem out loud. It was quite personal to me. Ever since the incident, I had only been able to write about darker things. I didn't usually write poetry. My entire piece was actually just a rewrite of some of my old song lyrics. I was hoping that I wouldn't be one of the chosen few to read in class. Still, I couldn't stand the idea of failing or disappointing Mr. Oak, so I did it anyway.

"_I'm trying hard to speak out  
><em>_but no one can hear a thing  
><em>_I'm crying and I'm screaming loud  
><em>_but no one is listening_

_So I have kick myself off the ground  
><em>_I need to show myself how to breathe  
><em>_Something better will come around  
>Even if it won't come easily<em>

_Soon the nightmare will end  
><em>_Even though I don't know when_

_All I know is that it's only temporary"_

Just one more deep breath.

"Okay. I'm done," I said.

I had no response of any kind at first. It was quiet and everybody seemed disinterested. Then, out of nowhere, a deep and annoyingly familiar voice boomed from the back of the class.

"Aw, that was so sad Addie. So freaking touching that I have a damn tear in my eye," Blake Tarragon said with an overly sarcastic tone. He placed his finger at the bottom of his eye and dragged it down with a fake sad expression. As I expected, everybody immediately laughed at his oh-so hilarious remark. I just rolled my eyes. Typical of Blake to start picking on me on the first day. He just sat there with a smug smile on his face, soaking up his popularity.

I turned and gave Mr. Oak a look that said, "just let me go, you've humiliated me enough."

He seemed to take the hint, saying, "That was inappropriate Mr. Tarragon and thank you Miss Rosewood, you can go sit now."

I obeyed and went back to my seat which was located inconveniently next to Carla's. Seating arrangements weren't our choice in NWA. We were assigned seats by the subject teacher at the beginning of the semester. As I sat down, Carla looked at me and mouthed 'boo hoo'. I just chose to ignore her.

"Now, Miss Refern, why don't you give it a shot?" Mr. Oak asked.

"Oh of course, Mr. Oak. I worked so hard on my poem, unlike Addie," Carla said as she got up from her seat. Her wavy blonde locks fell gracefully past her shoulders, and her heels made loud clacking noises as she walked up to the front of the class.

"This poem is so personal to me. I call it _Best Friend._"

"_Yesterday I was at the mall  
><em>_When I saw the prettiest thing of all  
><em>_It was sparkly and big and I had to try it  
><em>_Once I did, I had to buy it_

_A big diamond ring it was  
><em>_I needed to have it because  
><em>_Diamonds are a girl's best friend  
><em>_And my love for them will never end"_

"The end," she added with a smile.

Carla's cheerleader minions started clapping loudly from the back of the class. The rest of the class eventually followed although my eyes just rolled to the back of my head. Shallow as ever. When did Carla become such a dimwit?

"Thank you everyone. I worked so hard on it," Carla said after the applause died down.

Mr. Oak did not look as amused as Carla did as she started strutting back to her seat. When she reached me she said, "now that's a real poem, loser."

Again, I just stayed quiet. It took almost all my willpower not to throw my bag pack on her face, but I managed not to.

"Oh my gosh Carla, that was genius!" I heard a a very perky minion say as Carla sat down.

"Yeah Carla, I wish I had your amazing creative skills," another minion added.

"I know right?" Carla responded and she flipped her blonde hair.

Carla had two minions. One was called Bridgette and the other was Fiona. Fiona was this small freckled girl with a short red pageboy. She was considered the cutest girl in school because she was so tiny and perky all the time. Bridgette was tall and fierce looking, a lot less bubbly than Fiona. She had super straight, waist-length brown hair and a fringe that looked like a comb. Any other person would have looked like a geek but she pulled it off just fine. Her dark, almost raccoon-like eyeliner was also a trademark. Fiona was a shape shifter. Most people expected her to turn into bright red bunny but actually she shape shifted into a lioness. Bridgette was a witch like me but she was part of Circle Midnight.

"That was a nice try Miss Redfern, but I wanted all of you to write an inspirational piece, not a work of satire," Mr. Oak said.

"Well, Mr. Oak, I'm sure it might not be inspiring to you because you aren't a girl. As I said in my poem, diamonds are a girl's best friend, not diamonds are a man's best friend. You have dogs for that," Carla said in retaliation. She stopped fearing talking back to teachers when she realized they cowered under her Redfern name.

"Really? I thought cats were man's best friend," Fiona said in a lost tone. She wasn't joking. I forgot to mention that Fiona should have really been blonde. At least as far as the stereotypes go. She wasn't the brightest person in school, to say the least. Then again, I didn't know if she dyed her hair red because the color was impossibly bright.

"No, Fiona," Carla replied.

"Oh? Then I guess I should trade my brother's cat for a diamond," Fiona said.

"You mean dog." Carla corrected.

"What? Why are we talking about dogs now?" Fiona asked back, confused.

"Okay girls, that's enough chit-chat," Mr. Oak said, stopping them.

After four more poems were read, class ended and the rest of us just passed up our assignments onto his desk. Before all of us had a chance to rush out - and some of us could literally rush out super fast - Mr. Oak made an announcement.

"Class, before you go, all senior students are required to attend the senior class assembly that will take place in Redfern Hall after lunch."

We usually had our assemblies in Redfern Hall. Redfern Hall was the biggest auditorium in NWA. It was named after Hunter Redfern after he donated the money - and other "items" to the vampires of the school board - to get it built. By items, I mean humans.

The next few classes were much better than first period English because Belle was in them with me. With Belle to talk to, I managed to avoid making a snide remark at Carla every time she 'subtly' insulted me. Belle always managed to distract me. It was mostly reverse psychology. She kept trying to convince me to tell Carla to shove it, but I was determined to prove I had more self-control than that.

"Come on Addie, you're not going to let her say that to you," Belle insisted.

"Belle, I know you're only trying to help, but I'm ignoring them. Anyway, it's for my own good. I don't want the soda incident to happen again. At least not on the first day. I'm wearing a white shirt," I replied.

"Fine, it's your call but you know the bitch deserves it," Belle said.

The soda incident was the name I gave for the time I cracked a witty reply at one of Carla's insults. I just told her that she looked like a pastry in her pastel colored dress and she thought I was calling her fat. She immediately told me to shut up (how original) and then when I provoked her by saying, "is that the best you've got?" she actually grabbed my tank top, pulled out the neckline, and poured all of her bright pink soda into my bra. Yeah... my mistake. Everyone laughed at me and some people actually cheered for Carla. Like pouring soda was some legendary accomplishment. It always is when you pour it on the pathetic human sympathizing loser.

That incident was mostly the reason I wanted to avoid further contact with Carla and the rest of the popular gang. It was my favorite sky blue strapless bra, and the stains never came off. I didn't wear that bra ever again.

When classes ended and it was time for lunch, Belle and I decided to ditch the cafeteria and head to the Starbucks right across from school. A small perk of being upperclassmen was that we were all allowed to leave school for lunch. This was as long as we were back to school in time for classes. So Belle and I had a good forty-five minutes.

We didn't leave because the cafeteria was bad or anything though. Most of the Vampires and Werewolves chose to stay in school because where else would they get a blood section or a raw meat section. The normal "witch" food (regular food) was actually very decent too. Belle and I just hated the crowd.

We reached the Starbucks fairly quickly and luckily for us, there was no line.

"I would like one Espresso Con Panna and the Protein Artisan Snack Plate, please," Belle ordered.

"Anything else?" the fairly disinterested cashier asked.

"Oh, yes. For my friend here, a Strawberry Smoothie and an Egg Salad Sandwich. Thank you," she answered. Belle and I took turns to order and pay for each other. We had a Monday at Starbucks tradition ever since we were allowed to leave school for lunch.

After we got our food and drinks we sat at our usual booth on the second floor, by the big windows.

"So, there's supposed to be an important assembly for us seniors after this, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, I heard that it's going to be about some kind of semester long assessment or project or something." Belle replied.

"Really? What kind?" I asked.

"I'm not sure... But Jesse told me in first period French, that we all have to have a partner and that this thing will take up to twenty percent of our final year grade," she answered.

"Seriously? That's crazy. I wonder what it's going to be..."

"Probably something really lame."

"Haha. I hope I get partnered with you," I said with a smile.

"Me too. It would be great if we get to choose. I don't want to spend a whole semester on a big project with some weirdo. Or worse, a ditzy cheerleader," Belle said, making a gag face.

"Or a stupid Jock," I added in utter agreement.

Oh how I wished I hadn't jinxed it.


	3. Chapter 3: A Shocking Assembly

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

* * *

><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p>Double Update!<p>

Yeah! (:

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

Belle and I made it back to school two minutes before the bell. We lost track of time at Starbucks being caught up in conversation. It's been so long since I met Belle, but we hadn't gotten sick of one another. We rushed our way to Redfern Hall and when we reached, we decided to go up to the second floor balcony seats. Nobody but the two of us took the balcony seats and nobody seemed to mind. We never had difficulties hearing any announcements anyway thanks to the speakers that were right above us.

Right at the moment we sat down, the bell rang and Belle and I let out a little 'phew'. We didn't have much to worry about though, because not everyone was present. The kids that were present however, still managed to make a lot of noise.

Principal Forest went up to the stage and adjusted the microphone. When she cleared her throat, everybody in the hall went quiet. Just before she began to speak, the doors of the auditorium opened, and laughter and chatter filled the hall.

Cue the popular gang. Of course. The senior football players and cheerleaders walked in. Right behind them were the non-athletic but filthy rich kids who were also part of the popular group.

Carla and Blake were locked arm in arm with one other. I threw up in my mouth at the sight of them. Carla was sucking on a lollipop the same color of her lip-gloss. She looked super bitchy and proud as always. Right behind the couple was Blake's fellow super-rich, super-jock, best friend and vampire, Skye. Skye was definitely in the popular gang but strangely enough, he never made fun of me. Which was probably the reason Belle openly expressed how much she liked him.

I guess I couldn't blame her. He was a sexy foreigner, from a family with old money, and he was extremely good looking. He was tall, well built, had an alluring smile, dark hair and green eyes. Then again, almost everybody in NWA was extremely good looking. Me being the exception of course. I realized that not only did I have dull black hair... I had dull, frizzy, curly, black hair to go along with the rest of my average and unattractive body. It wasn't even an enchanting Taylor Swift kind of curly. I just looked like a homeless person. Or an angry cat. Luckily for me though, somebody invented this thing called a scrunchy. By pulling back my hair in a ponytail, I managed to keep my hair in place. Well, sort of. At least I had my braces taken off by the end of junior year. Anyway, back to Skye... The most important thing about him is that he had one thing that most of the other students at NWA didn't; his ear-candy, British accent. It's definitely what caught Belle's attention when he first came to school.

The popular gang found their usual seats and settled down, allowing Principal Forest to start the assembly. She cleared her throat once again and gave a very professional looking smile.

"Good afternoon. First of all, I'd like to welcome all of you back to school for senior year," she started.

A couple of people cheered.

"Now kids, the reason I have called you here today is to talk to you about the semester long project you all might have heard of. This is something new to our school. A project in it's... beta testing stage we'd say. We call it '_Out Of The Circle.' _It is a project done in pairs of two and the objective is simple."

Principal Forest paused as if to add a dramatic effect.

"To make new friends," she said.

What? I thought, a little confusion stirring up inside me. It seemed that everyone agreed because there was a sudden uproar of chatter that filled the hall.

"Now, I know that there are some exclusive cliques in this school. This has resulted in many cases of bullying," she continued.

Oh great...

"This is common for every school in the world. Excluding people, making fun of people, and simply avoiding people is quite common. But Night World Academy is not simply a common school. We are a prestigious and sophisticated center of education and we do not need any immature, high school, bullying drama."

She looked right up to me and Belle, knowing too well of our constant run ins with the popular gang. I just smiled awkwardly at her.

"In our school the incidents do not stop at social class or race. It goes deeper; our species. I've seen groups of vampires avoiding werewolves. I've seen witches who never let anyone into their circle of friends. I've seen shapeshifters and werewolves brawling in the courtyard and enough is enough."

She took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell us what we've all been waiting to hear.

"Which is why the school board and I have decided to create this project for all of you. You will not get to choose your partners, that will be done by the school guidance counselor, Ms. Lark. She has made sure to separate all species, social groups and cliques in this school. Don't even try to hate your best friend because Ms. Lark knows more than you think. She is a powerful witch after all."

Oh damn. We can't choose partners.

"This sucks!" Belle said, in sync with my thoughts.

"We're not going to be paired together because we're both witches and we're best friends," Belle added.

"Yup... That's just great, I am so freaking excited" I said sarcastically.

As if Principal Forest had heard me, she said, "I know some of you may be surprised about this sudden project. But keep in mind, it is for your own good and it is in the school's best interest."

"To better our social lives?" I asked rhetorically.

"To increase performance in school."

Yeah, she totally heard me.

"In this project, you and your partner will need to choose two weekly activities together, one sport and one of the arts. The school will pay for any expenses if necessary. You will also have an in-school study session with your partner at a time of your choosing. You and your partner will have regular meetings with Ms. Lark to update your progress. Ms. Lark will explain the rest to you in your first meeting, later today."

Principal Forest's tone began to shift as she moved to the end of her announcement.

"You and your partner's names are already listed on the boards outside the auditorium. This project will take up to thirty-five percent of your final year grade. Now, disperse," she said.

The hall immediately roared with the sound of excited and confused students as they all stood up and made their way out. I didn't stand up yet because I was suddenly in shock.

"Thirty-five? I thought you said it was twenty!" I said to Belle in an aggravated manner. The whole idea of this project bugged me. How can you force two people to become friends? Why would you force two people to become friends? The whole point of a friend is that you get to choose them. You can't choose your family, at least you should have the right to choose your own friends.

"Hey, don't yell. I just heard it that was twenty from Jesse, remember?" Belle replied in a calm voice.

"Don't you think this whole idea is stupid?" I asked. She didn't seem annoyed by the announcement at all.

"Well, it is silly to make two people hang out with each other against their will. But... this is kind of exciting, don't you think? We are seniors now, no one is going to go out on a limb to accept someone new unless they're forced to. This school is just full of people who stick to themselves. The cheerleaders, the jocks, the frighteningly cliché vampire goths, blah blah, etcetera. Plus, look at us! We haven't left each other's sides since freshman year," Belle said in argument.

She had a point, we really didn't have any other friends. Still, it didn't make up for the fact that I would have to spend the next semester pretending to like somebody that I know will hate me.

Belle took my arm, and stood us both up.

"Come on, let's see who our partners are," she said and started dragging me to the stairs.

Once we went outside to see the board, almost everybody was already gone. My frustrations melted away, and I was suddenly very nervous. I had no idea what to expect.

"Belle, why don't you go first?" I said.

"Okay."

She went to the board and looked for her name carefully. When she found her name, she came back with puzzled look on her face.

"Who in the world is Gaia Lark?" she asked.

"Isn't he that werewolf from the basketball team?" I said.

"Oh, right! Him!" A smile slowly formed on Belle's face.

"That's not too bad. You should go check yours out now."

"Okay."

I walked over to the board slowly. I prayed that I wasn't going to be stuck with Matthew Eartha. He had a reputation for picking his nose and eating whatever he found inside. Brr.

Using my finger to trace through the names, I looked for mine carefully on the board. My finger immediately froze in horror, along with the rest of my body, when I reached 'Adeline Blair Rosewood.' I slowly turned around with my mouth practically gaping open, and walked back to where Belle was standing.

"Addie? What's wrong?" Belle asked, with a little concern in her voice. Actually she started to look extremely worried. My face must have gone really pale.

"It's my partner," I said.

"Oh no, it's not creepy Matthew Eartha, the nose picker, is it?" she asked in horror.

"It's worse," I said.

"Addie, stop being so dramatic. Who is it?" she asked.

"It's Blake Tarragon."

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><p>DUN DUN DUN. But we all already knew that :p<p>

xx


	4. Chapter 4: C'est La Vie

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon. _

* * *

><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4<span>

"Belle! It's Blake _freaking_ Tarragon," I repeated, not hiding the killer agony in my voice.

Belle's face immediately flushed with relief.

"Addie! You had me scared there for a second! I thought you were going to faint or throw up or something," Belle said.

"Maybe I will. I'm going to be stuck with Blake for the rest of the semester! I might as well get my death certificate now," I said. I realized I sounded just a little bit melodramatic, but whatever, it was Blake.

A smile slowly creeped onto Belle's face and she let out a small laugh.

"Hey, calm down. If you think about it, it's not so bad, right?" Belle said.

"What do you mean '_not so bad_'? It's horrible! Not only do I hate the guy, he's sleeping with the enemy! No, he _is_ the enemy!" I raged. I swear I could feel my hair getting frizzier by the second.

I was so frustrated that she didn't understand the I position I was in. She wasn't the one tortured through all the three years she's been in high school so far. Okay fine, they picked on Belle every once in a while, but I was always their main target. She didn't even get stuck with an evil Barbie or any of the other annoying popular kids. She had Gaia Lark. I didn't really know the guy but he didn't seem too bad. Sure, he was a jock, but basketball was below football in NWA's popularity food chain. Plus, he wasn't a total douche.

Belle sighed.

"At least it's not Carla," she offered.

"That doesn't comfort me. I got the next best thing. And by best, I mean worst," I ranted on.

I didn't get her. Earlier in the morning, she was the one insisting that I should tell Carla to stake herself. Belle was usually the fiery one out of the two of us.

"Fine," Belle said, giving in.

"If it makes you feel any better, I hear Gaia is a total sleaze. Jesse told me that he slept with the entire girls track team. I'm going to be stuck with a sex crazed basketball player for the next semester. Talk about creepy."

It didn't make me feel any better but I realized something.

"Wait… Isn't Jesse on the girls track team?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

Belle's face slowly curled up into a little smile.

"Yeah… She is. That dirty little minx," Belle answered.

Belle and I both laughed. In that moment, I felt relief. It was a small distraction, but enough to take my mind off vampire Ken.

"You know what? I've just decided that I will deal with Blake as my partner," I said in a calm and mature tone.

"_But_, I'm still going to ask Ms. Lark for a change of partners. Just in case," I added.

"If that doesn't work out, you could always put a hex on him," Belle suggested and smiled a very evil smile.

"Haha, that's the Belle I know and love!" I said.

"Yup! Hey, let's head to class, I think we're late," Belle said.

We walked away from the auditorium and to our next lesson. We both had AP chemistry.

"Hey Belle, you go ahead first, I have to go to the bathroom," I said. She nodded and headed off on her own.

I went to the girl's toilet nearby and washed my face. I needed to cleanse myself of the negativity. If I was going to be stuck with Blake for this thing, I might as well embrace it and give it a try. I smiled at myself in the mirror and casually studied my face. Maybe I had exaggerated before about my looks. I guess wasn't exactly unattractive. I just made and effort to hide myself from the world. My mother was a beautiful witch and people have told me that I was her splitting image. She had porcelain skin and the most enchanting, deep, brown eyes. The only thing that set us apart, besides age, was that she didn't have a ball of frizz that was a pathetic excuse for hair.

I sighed, thinking about my mother. I missed her so much.

I attempted to tame my unruly hair and managed by tying it up in a messy bun. That will do, I thought, and walked out of the bathroom. Before I knew what was happening, I had bumped into somebody and fell.

"Watch where you're going!" I said snarkily from the ground.

"What the hell? You bumped into me!" I heard an all too familiar voice say. I looked up to see just what I was expecting; Blake Tarragon.

Oh great, I thought.

I let out an annoyed huff and stood myself up. I tried to calm my mind and cool myself down before speaking. Once I reached a manageable sense of ease, I looked right into his crystal blue eyes and said, "look, we're going to be friends from now on, so I'm going to say, I'm sorry."

I held out my hand as a peace offering.

Blake looked down at my hand, with a puzzled look on his face. At first, that is. He then began to laugh hysterically. It was my turn to look puzzled. What was so funny?

"Friends?" he began in between laughs.

"In your wildest dreams, vermin lover. We aren't going to stay partners much longer."

Of course. He wanted a change of partners just as bad as I did. So much for giving this whole thing a try. I should have expected this would happen.

A smug expression formed on his face and he started walking closer to me. He ended up backing me to a wall and stood just inches from my face. I could feel his breath on my skin. He was starring right into my eyes, his features gone from smug to serious. My heartbeat started to raise. What was going on?

"Just because you're attracted to me, Rosewood, doesn't mean you have a chance in hell," he said.

What.

The.

F*ck.

"_Excuse me?_" I said, utterly baffled. I slid away from the wall and made a three foot distance between us.

Blake turned around slowly and smiled.

"You heard me, Rosewood. I know you think I'm sexy," he said in a low tone, obviously mocking me.

Well that confirms it. He's nuts. He was not just a narcissistic jerkwad, he was actually delusional.

"Look, _Tarragon_. I don't know what goes on in that thick Barbie head of yours, but be rest assured, I am _not_ attracted to you."

I flashed him a fake smile and continued.

"In fact, you _disgust_ me. And now, I can't wait until Ms. Lark gets me a new, _sane_, partner,"

I turned away from him and started walking to class.

"Whatever, loser," he called from behind me, pathetically itching to have the last word.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking.

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><p>I didn't get to talk to Belle during AP chemistry, because we had a pop quiz. When class was over, Belle had to find her French teacher to pass up her summer assignment. We met up right before we entered the last period of the day.<p>

It was Spellcasting and Powers. Every NWA student was required to take three Night World classes each week. Witches had Spellcasting and Powers, vampires had Guide to Vampirism (a.k.a. GV), shapeshifters had Shifting and werewolves had Lycanthropy.

These classes were specifically designed to; focus on our special abilities, learn to deal with our weaknesses, learn to fight, and cultivate our unique powers.

Every Night Person has a unique power. For example, all vampires can manipulate thoughts, have super strength, and speed, but only some could shape shift. Vampires, shapeshifters, and werewolves had a very limited range of power possibilities. The unique powers for witches, on the other hand, were endless. Most night world people lived their whole lives (some through eternity) without uncovering their unique power. This was because only the strong or gifted ones could unlock them. Everybody had the potential, but not everyone had the skill. Even in NWA there were very few people who had unlocked their powers.

Amazingly, I was the exception. I discovered my unique powers at a young age. I had my mother to thank for this. She was one of the most gifted and special witches in her time. She possessed the power of telekinesis; the ability to move things with her mind. When I was just seven, she told me I would have inherited the exact same power. She showed me how to use my ability. The best I could manage was making a feather float in the air. It wasn't much, unlike her skills. She could lift a building after unattaching it from the ground if she had wanted to. Still, I had to start somewhere and I had a lot to learn from her. Sadly for me, my mother burned in a fire later that very day.

I tried everything to save her afterwards. I looked at every book, every spell, and every enchantment. I even managed to get a vampire to donate their blood to give my mother. Unfortunately for me, nothing worked. I had felt so powerful when I first accessed my powers but when I couldn't save my mother from a simple fire, I had never felt more weak.

From that day on, I avoided using my powers as much as possible because it reminded me too much of my mother. It was too much pain to bear.

When I started attending NWA, the 'Spellcasting and Powers' classes encouraged me to try again. Surprisingly enough, I did. Even though it hurt so much to think about her, I realized that my powers were the only connection with my mother that I had left.

Belle discovered her power in junior year. Matching her volatile and wild personality, she could create fire from her fingertips. This was extremely ironic because it meant Belle, as a witch, was fireproof. If only all the witches that had burned at the stake had the same power she did. Belle's power wasn't dangerous though, at least not so far. The best she could do was light a candle. She couldn't even shoot the fire from her hands. She was about as lethal as a walking matchstick. Her power was more defensive than offensive because it allowed her to be immune to fire. To be honest, my ability was considered one of the most powerful in the world. Yet, I was still the most unpopular, freak of a loser, in school. C'est la vie.

Each Spellcasting and Powers class of the week had three distinct lesson plans. Monday was the normal spells, hexes, curses and etcetera. Wednesday focused on physical training and unique powers. Since witches were the weakest in physical offense out of all the night world people, we learned the traditional ways to fight. If we had offensive unique powers, like I did, we would learn to use them in battle. Friday was about how to deal with iron and other weaknesses. Some extreme students had a daily diet consisting of a lot of iron to become immune. Night World classes always took place the last period of the day, so if any of us wanted to stay back to train or cultivate or powers, we could. Belle and I did this together every Monday.

The two of us were three minutes late when we awkwardly walked in to a room full of witches. Mrs. Stone, our teacher, did not look very happy.

"Nice of you two to join us, have a seat, ladies," she said coldly.

We obeyed and sat in the last two tables left at the back of the class. I loved the Spellcasting and Powers classroom. The room smelt like nature, because of the herbs and spices. It was decorated beautifully. The theme was purple and blue. There were crystals on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. There were spellcasting books on fairytale like shelves alongside potions and other knick knacks. The class also had cauldrons and crystal balls. The cauldrons were obviously for potion making.

At the back of the class, were three magical doors. The first door led to our training arena. The second door led to the nurses' office in the other end of the school, because our crafts could sometimes be dangerous and explode in our faces. The last door was the place with the rooms where the students developed and discovered their unique powers. There were separate rooms for each individual witch. This was because some powers had to be contained, and some could be lethal.

"Today we will learn about deadly curses…" Mrs. Stone started.

I whizzed through class. I always enjoyed anything to do with witchcraft. It was always so fun, even the homework assignments.

It was now time for training with Belle.

Belle and I always partnered up during training because we were the only ones with powers that could be used in fighting in our class. There were only three other people who had unlocked their powers in our class. One girl had the ability to talk to animals, so she always brought her pet cat to class. Another girl had the power to heal small wounds like cuts and light burns, she wasn't able to heal anything worse than that. The last witch with the power was a boy. He had the ability to sense the true moods of people when he touched them. If somebody was smiling, but actually sad on the inside, he would know. He would have to be a creep and somehow manage to touch them, but he would know.

Belle usually used these enchanted paper balls when training. The paper balls, when lighted up by fire can be thrown like a fireball. Before they are lighted, they are about as small as the tip of your thumb. When they are lighted up, they grow to take up your entire hand. Only people who were wearing fireproof gloves or people who were actually fireproof themselves could wield these fireballs.

The school made a special space in the arena for Belle and me that was made of fireproof material, just for us to train in. During training battles, each student had to protect their ribbon on their side of the court by fighting off the other student. Fireproofing was very necessary. Usually, we didn't have battles though, we just trained. Belle liked to train on the target dummies with her fireballs. I normally trained on the dummies by kickboxing or using my power. I still hadn't mastered my ability. Actually I was far from mastering it. At this point in my training, the most I could do was make a book levitate or deflect Belle's palm sized fireballs. This would already wear me out by the end of training.

I think that if I had ever developed my powers when I was younger, I'd be able to do a lot more. I hadn't advanced much since I've attended NWA, but a book was a large step from a feather. Every once in a while I tried to move something bigger, like a backpack or a chair but I usually ended up with a bleeding nose. Sometimes I would faint and wake up in the nurse's office. My powers really took a lot of energy out of me. When I tried to lift a backpack with my mind, it was just as difficult as trying to lift a couch with my hands. Except all whole body ached eventually, not just my arms. It wasn't only me of course, Belle would also get worn out by her power. Her energy acted as a fuel for her fire.

Belle and I both headed to the shooting area of the arena. We chose spots right next to each other. Belle practiced her shooting with her fireballs. I usually did it with darts. I didn't throw them with my hands though, I used my mind. I did it to practice my aim.

Belle picked up her first paper ball. She held it with her thumb and index finger and lighted it up. The ball transformed into a fire ball and it began floating above her hand. She took her first shot and the fireball hit the target's torso. I smiled.

"I ran into Blake before chemistry today," I said to her. I put my hand over a dart and concentrated on it until it began to lift off its pile. I looked at the target twenty feet away from me and I focused on it's head. My mind let the dart shoot. It ended up on Belle's target instead of mine. Oops.

"Really? What happened?" She asked, ignoring my awful shot.

I thought about telling Belle that he cornered me against the wall, but decided against it. I didn't want her to get any ideas.

"He's going to ask for a switch," I said, leaving out the details of our encounter.

"Oh, and he was a complete asshole," I added.

"Typical," she snorted.

"Yeah. I really do hope this change of partners works out in the end. If not, that self-centered, male Barbie is going to have to watch out," I said.

There was no way I was going to play nice anymore.

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><p>Yay, I'm revamping and updating this pretty fast ehy?<p>

Hehe, thanks for all the reviews so far. I love you all!

xx


	5. Chapter 5: Let The Games Begin

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

I felt really silly. Immature and silly. I had a tiny jar of peanut butter and chocolate in my pocket as I waited in the guidance counselor's office. I really hated this room. It felt like I was seeing a therapist. The room was average sized, and decorated in an unusual fashion. Almost everything in the room was made of wood. The colors didn't go beyond, brown, beige and dull red. The wooden floor was practically swallowed by the carpet and the windows were showed little light thanks to the drapes. The most therapist-like thing about this room was that there was a long red couch placed adjacent to a professional looking arm chair. Like the ones you see on television where the doctor makes the patient lie down and asks 'how do you feel about that?'. The brightest sources of light were the two tables lamps, one on a coffee table and one on Ms. Lark's desk by the window. There was a very dark aura to the room. Ms. Lark, being a witch had many of her magical things lying around on the shelves. I shivered inwardly as I looked at all the creepy knick knacks.

Blake and I had to attend the 4:30 session, which was a nice long hour after my training with Belle. I was sitting there on the couch, giggling, as I waited in anticipation of the most immature thing I could think up on short notice. I was a few minutes early and Ms. Lark went out to get some coffee. My 'evil' plan was to wait until Blake entered the room, and right before he sat down, I'd use my telekinesis to lather all the peanut butter and chocolate onto his side of the sofa. Once our session ended, Mr. Perfect Malibu Vampire would realize that he was in serious need of a diaper change.

It was a stupid and childish plan, but I was determined to prove to Blake how unattracted to him I really was.

Ms. Lark came back with her coffee before Blake arrived. I had hoped she'd be late so that it would be easier for me to sneak in my little surprise. Now, I had to be extra careful.

Ms. Lark was a woman in her mid-thirties. She always had her maroon colored hair in a bun and she matched it with a pair of red rimmed glasses. Despite the nerdy looking eyewear, Ms. Lark was very beautiful and petite-looking. She didn't seem like the kind of person who could give any sort of guidance. Everything about her screamed silly damsel in distress. Contrary to her outer appearance, when students went to see Ms. Lark, they came out different. She helped solve their problems and troubles and somehow changed the students in the process. I had never been in her office before, so I wasn't too sure what to expect personally.

"Hello Adeline. Make yourself comfortable while we wait for your partner," she said in a light-hearted voice.

I didn't know what she meant by that. I was already sitting down. I hoped she didn't mean I had to lie down on the couch. I just smiled nervously as she sat down at her table and started sorting through some documents.

"Are you excited about this project?" she asked, not looking up from her papers.

Oh no, she's talking to me. Hurry up Blake! I thought.

"Uh… Well, not exactly," I began. I really didn't want to start talking to her. What if she went all therapist on me? What if she started asking about my mother?

Luckily for me, my worries died down when I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to ask for a different partner.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you... Could I possible cha-" I was interrupted by the loud sound of the door slamming open.

I turned my head to the double doors and saw Blake Tarragon walk into the room, clad in his football jersey. He put on his charming-boy smile for Ms. Lark and said, "good afternoon Tracy. I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

He then proceeded to give her a wink.

I was shocked. Tracy? You don't call your school guidance counselors by their first name. But _Tracy_ didn't really seem to mind. In fact, she blushed when he winked at her.

Of course, it was the 'Blake Effect' in action. The reason Blake was so popular, beyond his football playing peers, was because he had this effect on the girls (and some boys) in the school. He was admired by the girls and respected by the guys. He was the quarterback and the strongest vampire in school. But, he was mostly famous for his good looks and supposedly enchanting charm.

Blake Tarragon was the golden boy of Night World Academy. All my Barbie and Ken jokes aside, he really did look like he was manufactured in a beautiful people factory. He was tall, built, and athletic, without being too bulky. His face was chiseled, solidified by strong jaw. His super clear crystal blue eyes melted most girls with a single swift look. Finally, he had an award winning smile. Seriously, he's won the award for best smile, three years in a row. Everyone went weak in the knees for his smile. Everyone except for me and Belle, of course. I personally puked in my mouth every time I saw that smile of his. All smug and proud. Who did he think he was?

I snapped out of my thoughts about his stupid smile and prepared myself for the kill of the day. I expected him to come around to the front of the couch and take a seat. Instead, he actually grabbed onto the edge of the sofa and swung himself over. This surprised me and hence left me no time for my brilliant peanut butter plan.

Damn it, I thought.

He had won the first battle, but I was not defeated. I was going to make sure that peanut butter got onto those glutes one way or another.

Ms. Lark stood up from her desk and made her way to the arm chair with a few papers in hand. As she sat down she said, "No Blake, you didn't keep us waiting."

She cleared her throat and smiled.

"Today's session is simple. One of you will pick an art and one of you will pick a sport," she started.

I interrupted her before she was able to continue.

"Ms. Lark, I was wondering if I could probably switch partners somehow. I don't think I'll be able to handle being with someone so... plastic," I said. I had to beat Blake to the punch. I wanted to show how much I didn't want to be his partner, before he did.

Ms. Lark looked at me for a second with a stern expression and said, "Adeline, please do not interrupt me when I'm speaking. And no, you will not be able to switch partners. Decisions are final and there is nothing more that I can do."

Blake shifted in his seat and looked at Ms. Lark, "Tracy, are you sure there's nothing you can do? You can make an exception for me right?" He put back on that disgusting smile of his.

Ms. Lark's stern expression faded and a calmer look took over.

"I'm sorry Blake, I wish I could help you. But it's a rule that you cannot switch partners. That is the whole point of this project. You will just have to bear being with Adeline," she said.

Blake let out a fake sigh.

"Oh well," he said.

"Thanks Tracy. At least I know you'll be around to comfort me when I inevitably get sick of the vermin princess," he finished.

Frustration immediately took over my whole body. Blake's remark about me was typical but, 'bear being with Adeline?' That bitch. She was totally falling all over the Blake Effect. She wasn't even a student. Desperate cougar!

I hated how much nicer she was to Blake. Witches were supposed to have a bond with each other. I rolled my eyes at the both of them and just kept quiet.

"Of course I'll be there for you Blake. Now that's settled, I'll continue where I left off when I was so rudely interrupted by Adeline," Ms. Lark said.

I let out a soft snort.

"After you each pick a sport and art, you will need to decide on your study session times. You only need one study session together per week. Earlier today, Principal Forest may have told you that have you two activities per week, but that has been changed to one activity and one study session. The sports and arts will alternate," she explained.

She then proceeded to hand us each a little booklet.

"This is where you will record the progress of your activities. Think of it as a journal. Write down every thought and feeling you have about your sessions. Also, at the end of your entry you will rate each other on a scale of one to ten of how cooperative the other student was, as well as their attitude, and behavior. Every end of the week, you will come to my office and pass your booklets to me. I will read them over the weekend and pass them back to you on Monday," she explained.

I sifted my fingers through the empty pages of the book. I was sure going to have a lot to write in them. I wondered if I should be nice or nasty. Perhaps nasty.

"Any questions?" she asked.

"Can I pick the sport?" Blake asked.

"Sure, Blake." Ms. Lark.

My heart stopped. I wasn't a very sporty person. Actually I was the worst at sports in the entire school. Sure, I could fight in an arena but if you told me to throw a ball into a hoop, it would end up hitting someone's face all the way in the bleachers. Just last semester, I slammed a volleyball into our coach's nose and I was kicked out of P.E.

I started to panic. What if he chose something awful like football? Or worse… Cheerleading.

"Tennis," he said, interrupted my slowly building paranoia.

I let out a breath a didn't know I was holding. Tennis seemed normal enough. I wouldn't have to scream 'go team go!' or some other cheesy cheer.

"Alright. Tennis is it. Adeline, you can choose the art." Ms. Lark said.

I had given this a lot of though earlier in the day. I was planning on the most humiliating type of art. I guess I sort of knew that Blake would choose the sport. So, I considered ballet. I took ballet lessons as I kid once. They were the most horrifyingly painful lessons in the world. I also noticed that there were no boys in the class. It would have been so hilarious to force Blake into a tutu. I would tell him it was compulsory. But, since Blake chose a good sport for me, I felt that I should do the same for him.

"Painting," I said.

"We could have painting classes. I know a school near my house," I added.

What I lacked in sports, I made up for in the arts. I didn't know when I started to dabble on creative processes, but I considered myself a very artsy girl at this point. I sang since I was a little girl. I began to play the guitar and the piano at the tender age of five. Drawing and painting came a little bit later.

"Excellent," Ms. Lark said.

"Tennis and painting. How normal. One pair I had earlier on, went for sky-diving and ice sculptures," she added.

Sky-diving and ice sculpting. That's extreme.

We then settled the times for all our activities, the places and the budget. The school would pay for all lessons and club entries. After we finalized everything, Blake and I left the room and two other students went in after us.

Blake held out his hand to me. Just like I had to him, earlier in the day.

"Look, since we're stuck together, wanna call a truce?" he said.

How odd. What did he mean by that? He was the one who told me 'no chance in hell'. Maybe he had given up since we weren't allowed to switch partners.

I looked at the hand he held toward me. It looked cold and unwelcoming. I wasn't sure how genuine he was being about this. My brain told me I was supposed to hold it and shake it, but the rest of my body was screaming, 'get away! He's probably contagious!'

My brain overpowered and decided to shake his hand anyway. What was the worst that could happen?

Then of course, the worst proceeded to happen.

The moment our bare hands touched, something shocked me. It was a painful electrical jolt. Or at least I thought it was painful. I was overcome with dizziness and my vision blurred. Everything around me slowed down. I couldn't hear anything but the sound of my heart rapidly increasing in my ears. It was extremely overwhelming. For a moment I thought I had felt a little bit of calm and pleasure, but I knew I had to be wrong.

I snatched my hand away, realizing that Blake must have hidden some sort of electrical buzzer. Of course he didn't want a truce. He was stupid, immature and a complete asshole. It was just like him to pull something like this. My hand was burning where I touched his and anger started to well up in my body.

"What the hell!" I screamed.

When I looked up at his face, he seemed pretty... surprised. I didn't understand why. He was the one who shocked me. Did he expect me to fawn over and kiss him for it?

"You say truce and then you freaking shock me." I shouted.

"I didn't shock you! YOU shocked ME!" he said, matching my level of anger.

I couldn't believe he was denying it. I was getting more pissed off by the second.

"Woah! Don't you dare turn this around on me, Barbie," I sneered.

In a flash, I remembered my little peanut butter and chocolate plan. My mind panged with a feeling of guilt as I realized I was prepared to do the exact same thing to him. That feeling didn't last long though. I grabbed for the jar in my pocket and immediately used my powers to smudge it's contents all over Blake's pants.

When Blake realized what I had done, his expression changed into something a little darker.

"You did not just do that," he said.

I couldn't help but smile smugly and say, "oh yes, I just did."

Some kids passed by us in the hallway and starting laughing at Blake when they noticed the stain. He tried to wipe it off, but it just spread.

"You bitch!"

I crossed my arms and looked at him with pity. I felt so incredibly satisfied. It wasn't like he hadn't done things like this to me over the years. The popular gang played more pranks on me than I could remember. It felt so good to finally get back at one of them.

"That's what you get for being a jerk," I said in my most mocking tone. There were still students that laughed and pointed as they passed by.

Blake gave me the dirtiest look I had ever seen on his pretty boy face.

"You know what?" He began, his voice was a low growl.

"Bring it on, you vermin-loving loser. You're going to pay for this."

"Whatever, asshole," I said, unfazed by his little threat.

He called me a bitch once more before he walked away.

I personally could not wait to see what he was going to plan for me. This time, I knew I would be ready.

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><p>Guys, please don't forget to review! Those words fuel me!<p>

xx


	6. Chapter 6: Tennis

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p>Whee! Thanks everyone, for reading.<p>

And Special shout out to love2loveu12! Happy Birthday!

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><p><span>Chapter 6<span>

It was a clear afternoon on Wednesday, the day Blake and I were supposed to meet up at the sports club for Tennis. I walked into the main building, taking in all the energized and sweaty people around me. These people actually exercised. They weren't like those people who walked around everywhere in flashy jogging suits, claiming that they worked out. They actually cared about fitness.

I felt like a complete outsider. Plus, I was feeling tired so I looked very out of place.

It's scary, I thought. How I could I have been such an excellent fighter and yet have none of those years of training with Belle rub off on me for sports. Maybe it's psychological. Maybe I was afraid of organized sports. It's not like fighting and sports were that different. You needed to be fit. To be alert. To have good reflexes. I'd like to think that I had a decent amount of all three.

Looking around the large room, it was like being back in school, where everybody else was superior to me in just about everything. I could have sworn some people were giving me those, 'you don't belong here' looks. I decided to keep my focus on finding Blake and not making eye contact with anybody.

The club was larger than I expected and I was having a hard time looking for the way to the tennis courts. I managed to find the place eventually. It was through these large glass doors at the back of the main building. How did I miss that?

I spotted Blake almost immediately and stopped to study him. He was standing by a bench next to an empty court, in his tennis gear, drinking from his water bottle. Behind him was what looked like a female figure. I could tell he already played a few rounds before I arrived. He looked fresh... and almost raw from the exercise. His natural tan radiated a sinewy glow. Nobody would suspect that he was vampire from his golden colored skin. Although I was far away, I could see his crystal blue eyes looking a little bit icier than usual.

I felt a sort of relief when I saw him. It wasn't because I was happy to see him. I really wasn't. It was just a better feeling than being lost in a crowd full of strangers who didnt seem to want me around.

The temporary relief turned into agony when I recognized the female figure standing behind him. I let out an automatic groan at the wavy blonde hair tied up in her signature cheerleader pony tail. I could spot those menacing eyes and nasty demeanor from miles away. It was Carla.

Is this another one of Blake's sick and twisted ways of getting back at me for my little prank? Bringing her here? I thought.

I really hoped not. A lump welled up in my throat but I held it down. I especially hoped he did not have anything planned together with Carla. I had enough of their schemes from yesterday. I didn't really want to think about it.

After Blake was done with his drink, Carla pushed herself onto him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed his cheek, leaned over and whispered something into his ear, giggling. Blake gave a sort of half hearted smile that didn't seem to reach his eyes. He absently took a step away from her. I had a feeling he didn't like Carla draping herself all over him in public. Carla took a step forward, not taking the hint, and tried to pull him closer. Blake stopped her, held her by the shoulders and took another step back. It seemed like he didn't want to be aggressive with her but there was a really serious look in his eyes.

What was going on? Usually he'd jump at the chance to get disgustingly intimate with Carla.

Still, seeing him reject her made me feel better. As much as I didn't care about their stupid relationship, I liked witnessing something go wrong. I was about to walk over to the pair when someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I looked around to find a gorgeous teenage boy with dark hair. It was Skye, Blake's super rich, British, vampire best friend. He was also in his tennis outfit and he held what looked like a custom made, blood-red racket in his hand. His brown hair looked disheveled and his green eyes were glowing in the light.

"Hey Addie. You came," Skye greeted me. My knees wanted to give in at the sound of his accent. He gave me a warm smile that automatically had me smiling back. Belle would have gone all crazy and squeaky for that smile. She's actually freaked out in that manner a few times before. She was such a little girl sometimes.

"Hi Skye," I said.

I was a little taken aback. Firstly, because he was acknowledging my existence. Secondly, because he was being seemingly decent. If anybody from school saw me outside of school, they made it a point to ignore me. Usually, Skye was no exception. I was waiting for Skye to give me the look. The patronizing one I had seen so many times from the popular kids. I half expected him to say, "I wasn't talking to you, vermin lover'. But that didn't happen. Instead, he just kept smiling.

"It's good that you're joining us now. We've been lacking an extra player for doubles," he said.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked stupidly. I was confused. Partly because I still expected him to be talking to someone else and also because I didn't get what he meant by 'joining us'.

"You know, for the Out of the Circle thing. You guys play a sport. Blake chose tennis," he said simply.

Oh, of course! Blake, Carla, and Skye all played tennis together. This meant now I played tennis with Blake, Carla, and Skye.

"Right," I said.

"C'mon, let's go to the court," he said.

He started walking toward the direction of the lovebird Barbies, and I followed next to him.

"Have you played the game before?" he asked, still smiling at me. I had a feeling he was walking on eggshells around me. His tone was too friendly. His smile was too happy.

I looked at the floor, soaking in the white tiles of the path, as we walked.

"Uh, no. Not really," I answered dryly. We reached the couple as they were having a bit of a loud conversation.

"But Blakey, you can't! I mean, we can't-" I heard Carla say before she was cut off.

"Skye! You're here that's great!" Blake said, obviously avoiding Carla. He had a look of pure relief on his face.

But once he noticed me, he didn't seem too relieved anymore.

"Addie..."

I could hear a bit of guilt laced in his voice. I knew why. He got back at me yesterday for my silly prank outside the guidance counselor's office.

The experience was absolutely horrifying.

I remember the halls were eerily empty and quiet when I walked out of the bathroom. It was lunchtime and I couldn't find Belle anywhere. Instinctively, I headed for the cafeteria to look for her. The moment I walked through those doors I was attacked by day old surprise stew pouring all over me. Then I felt another attack of an unfamiliar substance. I screamed at the top of my lungs when I realized the second wave had been live worms.

To make things worse, everyone in the cafeteria was waiting for this happen. They were watching and laughing, their cameras capturing away the amazing scene taking place before them. Even a few teachers joined in.

It turned out that Blake had told everybody in school to go to lunch early and get ready for a 'special event'. Every single person in school knew what was going to happen to me but me. Belle was already in the cafeteria, thinking the 'special event' was going to be something like a cool celebrity visit or something. No such luck. It was just me. Plain old me and a bucket of worms.

I never told anybody, but I was deathly afraid of worms. They were my insensible phobia. The kind that doesn't have a reason and isn't connected to any particular event from my past. Blake couldn't have possibly known that. But if he did, he utilized that knowledge to its full potential.

I was drenched and I smelled like sour soup. I was covered in worms and I was absolutely petrified. I gave a sort of yelp as I felt the worms crawling on me. I thought I was going to start crying on the spot, in front of the whole student body. I was both humiliated and scared out of my wits. It was quite… painful.

I looked up and saw Belle's terrified expression from a table on the far left. She mouthed, "what the hell is going on?" But my attention immediately turned to Blake, laughing at me along with his popular gang. I prepared to turn around and run, but right before I did, I caught his gaze. When our eyes locked, he stopped laughing and a slightly pained look formed on his face. I assumed it was because he was grossed out by the sight of me. Something in the back of my mind told me that wasn't the reason, but I was too upset to think into any further.

I ran out of the cafeteria as fast as I could. I barely made it back to the bathroom when I burst into tears. I quickly locked the door behind me without checking the three stalls in the room. I knew that everybody was in the cafeteria. Most of the worms fell off me when I ran but there were still a few left. I closed my eyes, drew out a sobbing breath and walked over to the sink. I cleaned myself up, getting rid of all the worms and washed out whatever I could. I fell down unto the floor after that, and started crying again.

I felt overwhelmed. I never cried in school before. Actually, I didn't cry much at all. But I let myself sit there and sob for a little longer when I heard a knock on the door followed by a warm and familiar voice.

"Addie? Addie? Are you in there?" I heard Belle shout.

"Addie, are you okay? Oh goddess."

I straightened myself over and stood up. I answered Belle, hoping and praying that my voice didn't come out shaky. Even if it was just Belle, I was too proud to let her see me so vulnerable. To my surprise my voice sounded relatively normal.

"Yeah, I'm okay Belle. I'll be right out."

I hurriedly wiped off what was left of my tears and washed my face.

"I'm going to kill that inconsiderate, imbecilic, immature jerk!" Belle shouted as I got to the door. When I opened it, I saw Belle standing there looking stupidly worried and completely frenzied.

"You're going to run out of adjectives that start with 'I.' Let's just leave it alone."

There must have been something in my voice when I said it because she listened and said nothing more. It turned out lunch had ended and everybody went to class.

Instead of going to class like everybody else, Belle and I spent the next 20 minutes getting me a change of clothes after I took a shower in the girls' locker room.

We joined our class right after I was done, and surprisingly, we didn't get lectured for being late. The teacher must have known what happened.

Everybody whispered as I entered the classroom but I just avoided eye contact and headed straight for my seat.

It was after school when Blake came looking for me. I was walking out of class when he rushed toward me.

"Hey, Addie, I need to talk to you," he said.

"There's nothing you can say to me that I want to hear right now," I spat. I turned around and started walking.

"Addie! Wait!" I heard Blake call. I could tell he was walking after me, but I ignored him.

"Addie, I'm sorry."

I still ignored him and walked faster.

"Addie please-" he said, then he grabbed my wrist.

I felt that same shock I did the day before, in front of the guidance counselors office. My vision turned pink. Painfully pink. Intense feelings raced around my mind and body. I couldn't tell what kind of feelings they were. So I just focused on churning them into anger.

I yanked my arm from his wrist and turned to him.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I shouted.

"It's bad enough you had to do that to me today, but do you really need to give me a fake apology so you can shock me again? Haven't you had enough? I'm sorry I smeared peanut butter and chocolate over your jeans! Is that what you need to hear? Just leave me alone."

I almost cracked at those last words. I turned away and walked. He didn't follow.

The next day I was the hot gossip topic of school and not the good kind. I avoided Blake and he avoided me. Halfway through the day, a sad realization dawned on me when I remembered we had a sports activity together. I didn't dare show weakness by not showing up. So before school ended, I cleared up my thoughts and discarded all events of the day before. I went home, got dressed and rode my bike down to the sports center.

So there I was, standing right in front of Blake, next to the tennis court, as if nothing had happened. I smiled at Blake. It was a forced smile, but still, a smile. He ruffled his hair with an uncomfortable expression and turned his gaze to the white tiles below us. He was acting strange.

Carla turned to me and said, "what are you doing here?"

I rolled my eyes at her irritated tone and superficial voice.

"Out of the Circle. I'm not going to fail," I said blandly. I didn't want to be bitchy. I just wanted to get the day over with.

"So what? What makes you think you have the right to show your face here? Especially after yesterday. Your reputation is worse than it used to be." Carla said.

I closed my eyes and I let out a short, heavy breath. I was about to tell Carla to stick her face in a pile of elephant dung, but Blake cut in before I could open my mouth,.

"Shut up Carla. Just shut up," he said, still looking away from me.

I was shocked. He had never told her to shut up before. At least not while she was bitching at me.

"Oh, you're sticking up for her now? I thought you were the one who decided to humiliate her in front of the entire student body," she barked back.

Blake looked at Carla and I noticed his expression changed from uncomfortable, to angry. I really didn't understand the tension between them. Clearly, I was the problem, not them.

"Okay!" Skye said loudly, before Blake could say anything.

He clasped his hands and both Carla and Blake looked at him.

"Let's just play some doubles."

Blake looked away again, still avoiding my gaze and said, "whatever."

Carla was a little more difficult.

"Fine. But I'm playing _against_ the vermin lover."

Blake picked up his racket and walked into the court. Skye followed. Carla just turned to me and looked down at my face, towering over me with her height as best as she could.

"Just wait Addie, I'm going to _break you_," she said in a low, razor-like voice and walked away into the court.

Instead of getting mad, I was slightly confused. What exactly was going on? Why was Carla so mad at me? I understood her usual remarks, but she was never this bad. Especially when I hadn't done anything to provoke her.

I was the one who should have been pissed off. I should have been the bitchy, angry girl. I was the victim. But I wasn't the bitch. I was the stupid unpopular girl who barely ever stood up for herself. Because every time I did, something even worse happened.

I didn't understand Karma. Why was it that I was always treated badly, yet when I gave a little taste of someone's own sick medicine, I still got it worse in the end? Why was Karma such a hypocrite? If Karma was revenge by the universe, why couldn't I take revenge into my own hands?

I put down the duffel bag I was carrying onto the bench, and took out my racket. I walked into the court, and stood next to Blake. Carla and Skye were paired up together on the other side of the court. I didn't look at Blake and he didn't look at me. Skye picked up the ball and served it to Blake's side.

After a few rounds between the boys, the ball skidded into Carla's side of the court and before I knew it, the ball was hurdling at me at full speed.

I saw somebody's arm hold up their racket and hit the ball perfectly to the other side of the court. I was shocked to realize that arm belonged to me. Sadly, just because I hit the ball, it didn't mean I did anything good. In less than a second, the ball hit Carla directly on the forehead and she fell backwards.

"YOU BITCH!" she screamed from the floor.

Skye immediately ran to Carla's assistance.

"Are you okay?" he asked and he looked at her forehead.

"No, I am not okay! I'm going to kill that little witch!" she shouted and got up in lighting-fast, vampire speed, and rushed toward me.

Before I knew it, I was pinned against a wall by the neck with Carla's racket. It was choking me. Her grip was really strong. I coughed as she tightened her grip. I felt the oxygen cutting off from my system.

"Carla! What the hell are you doing?" I heard someone shout. I was starting to feel so drowsy that I couldn't tell who it was.

I looked at Carla straight in the eye and choked out, "what…the hell…is your problem?"

Rage immediately took over my body. Who did she think she was? What damn right did she have to do this to me?

I was about to blast Carla with my telekinetic energy when she was suddenly yanked off of me. It was too late though, because I sent the strongest blast of telepathic and telekinetic energy I could muster in my drowsy state.

Carla was thrown away from the person who pulled her off of me and slammed right into the other side of the court. With that, she immediately held her hands to her head and gave a shrill, painful scream.

I fell down almost instantly and the world went grey for one second. I didn't black out though. I was too strong willed to faint. But, I was exhausted and in pain. My neck and my head were aching and throbbing.

"Addie!" I heard a concerned voice say. The owner of the voice ran over to me.

I looked over to Carla and knew it wasn't her. She was still at the other end of the court. She looked perfectly fine now. She wasn't holding her head anymore, but she was looking straight back at me with a deathly glare. She picked herself up and lunged toward my direction.

Skye stopped her by grabbing her.

"Carla, calm down!" Skye said. He tightened his grip on her.

"Skye, take her somewhere else!" Blake shouted from next to me. He was the person who ran over.

NOW, I heard him shout telepathically.

Skye obeyed and dragged Carla away from the court. I looked up and saw that Blake was looking at me.

He leaned down and said, "Addie, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you, you asshole," I choked out. I was mad at him. I wasn't sure why. He wasn't the one who choked me with a tennis racket like a deranged nut.

"Addie…" he said softly.

He brought his hand to my cheek and the whole world fell away.


	7. Chapter 7: Let Me Drive You Home

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p>Hello my beautiful readers! Thanks so much for your reviews and support! I'll be putting up chapter 8 a little later today. Have fun reading!<p>

Love you all!

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><p><span>Chapter 7<span>

"Of course I can hear you, you asshole," I choked out as loud as I could.

"Addie…" he said softly. His voice was laced with concern.

He looked into my eyes, his gaze deep, and brought his hand to my face.

From the moment his fingers brushed my cheek, my vision turned pink. Then I was falling. Falling into nothing… and everything.

My entire body began tingling from the sensation of his touch. It was prickly, yet strangely sweet. The tingles ran through my body, and to my chest, making my heart beat faster. Much faster. I could feel the thumping in my ears as each breath I took became heavier. Everything around the two of us blurred. Blurred into slow motion. Blurred into whiteness. All I could see was Blake. It was like lighting struck me, but he was the source.

_Addie… _He said once more. It was telepathic, but it was different from the other times. He wasn't merely projecting a mental thought... No. It was a feeling. I _felt_ him say my name. I felt it in my skin, my body... My soul. It was intense.

His eyes continued to burrow into mine, keeping me absolutely frozen. I was entranced.

Suddenly, a strange urge developed inside of me. I wanted to pull Blake towards me. I wanted him to fall into me. I wanted to feel his chest against mine, wrap my arms around his neck, and ki-

Wait what?

I snapped myself out of it, stopping any further thoughts and urges.

I must have gone completely insane. What in the world was I thinking about? Falling into his stupid Barbie arms? Carla must have damaged my brain somehow while she was choking me. Following that thought, a new urge developed inside me. I carried that one out without a problem.

I choked out, "get off me, you pervert!"

With that, I used almost all that was left of my energy and gave him a searing, mental slap. It probably wasn't very strong because all Blake did was bring his hand up to his forehead with an irritated, "ow!"

My power was back to its usual and weak self. The best I could get out of Blake was a little irritation.

I had no idea how I managed to throw and entire person in the air and across the court _and_ make her scream in agony from my mental blast. Maybe it was my anger. Perhaps the rage unlocked something inside of me that I didn't know existed.

I had never been in a fight with any deep emotions involved. I had only ever practiced with Belle and a few other witches. None were angry practices.

"What was that for?" he said, extremely agitated.

"Well, wouldn't you like to know," I replied, glaring. My voice didn't come out in chokes anymore, but I was still weak.

I coughed and forced myself to stand up, no matter how painful it was. I was dizzy, but focused enough to keep my balance.

"You and your thickheaded girlfriend need to learn to get a life instead of trying _so_ hard all the time to ruin mine," I said as I dusted myself off.

Blake immediately stood up and got defensive.

"You know what? Our lives don't exactly revolve around a _short _vermin lover," he said. He put in great emphasis on the word short. As if being short was a bad thing. I'm not short! I'm five feet and four inches! That is completely average! It is _not_ short!

"Then hopefully you understand that I don't want anything to do with you _tall_ people either."

For the billionth time that week, I turned away from him and began walking. Blake was still in earshot when I heard him let out a sigh. Footsteps immediately followed and Blake flashed right in front of me before I knew what was happening.

"Wait, Addie. Let me drive you home," he said, holding out his hands as an attempt to stop me.

"Like I would get into your creepy car to let you drive me somewhere to kill me and dump the body. You don't even know where I live."

"I'm a smart guy, I'll figure it out," he said, with his award-winning signature smile.

Cocky jerk, I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"Get over yourself," I said.

He cringed a little.

"Okay, okay. Just show me the way and let me drive you home. You're in no condition to walk."

"I'm not going to walk. I brought my bike so I'd have to take that home anyway. Now leave me alone," I said, frustrated. Why wouldn't he just let me walk away coolly?

"My car has a bike rack. I'll drive you home."

"Oh goddess! Fine! _Fine_. If driving me home is _so_ important to you," I said, giving in. Although I didn't want to admit it, he was right. I had no idea how I was going to be able to handle riding my bike home. Getting choked takes a lot out of you.

"Good. Now where's your bike?" He asked as he led me out of the court to the bench right outside.

"At the entrance of the main building."

"Is that yours?" He pointed at my father's duffel bag.

"Yes."

I reached for it, but Blake beat me to it, and snatched it up.

"I can take my own bag, thank you," I announced, reaching for it from his arm. He pulled away, not letting me take it.

"You're welcome. Now go wait at the entrance," with that, Blake walked into the direction of the locker rooms.

I sighed after he was gone. I guess I was giving in. I was in no mood to fight anymore, so I walked out to where I left my bike. I unlocked the cable and waited as per Blake's instructions.

Then a scary realization dawned on me. How could I have been so stupid? Blake was probably already in the park next to the sports center, throwing my stuff into the lake. I started panicking. I was about to rush over to the park when I saw Blake's car pull out from the corner.

I calmed down.

You are just a very disturbed and paranoid girl, I thought to myself.

Once his car reached me, Blake got out and picked up my bike. As he assembled it onto his car, I searched hurriedly for my duffel bag just to be sure.

It was nestled safely in the back.

"All done. Get in."

I did as he instructed. We didn't speak except for when I told him the directions to my house. When we arrived, I got out of the car with my duffel bag while Blake took out my bike.

"Um, thanks…" I said as he wheeled it over.

"Sure," he said.

He got back into his car and drove away.

That was… interesting, I thought to myself.

Who knew Blake could be… nice?

I spent the rest of the day doing my homework and finishing the report of my first Out of the Circle activity. What a day. I didn't write about Carla. I just wrote that we played a few rounds and then Blake drove me home.

I was extremely tired by the time I got into bed so I immediately drifted into a deep sleep.

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><p>"Are you sure about this?" Blake said. He was standing outside of the bait store with Carla, an hour before school began on a Tuesday morning.<p>

"Of course! We were… friends... once. I _know_ that she can't stand worms," Carla replied. She put her hands to her hips and gave him a reassuring look.

"I meant using her biggest fear against her. Like you said, you two were friends once."

"Just because we were friends a _very_ long time ago, it doesn't mean I care now. That little vermin loving brat deserves what's coming for her. She's such a freak. Who smears something so disgusting and fattening all over your sexy jeans?" she said and moved closer to Blake to grab his backside.

"Right baby?" she added slyly.

Blake would have normally enjoyed this, but at the moment he felt a little uneasy.

"Right. Let's just get the worms."

After Blake and Carla bought the bucket of worms, they went to school to set up their trap. They made sure everybody knew where to be at lunch and waited patiently for the rest of the morning to pass.

When it was finally time, everybody had emptied the halls and rushed over to cafeteria. Even a few teachers had joined in to watch the event. Blake looked around. Everyone had their eyes were on the doors, with phones and cameras ready.

Addie was taking a while to get there and people were starting to get bored. They were about to lose interest when Addie stepped through the doors just in the nick of time. One of Carla's minions hit the button to release the first bucket. It's smelly, soupy contents splashed out like a giant wave all over Addie.

She stood still on the spot with her eyes closed shut and her hands held up, close to her face. Everybody in the cafeteria burst out laughing and started snapping away with their cameras. The best part hadn't come yet but they were already enjoying it.

Especially the people in Blake's table. The popular table. Including himself. Blake felt so satisfied as his laughter roared along with the others.

He stopped to see Addie open her eyes as the soup finished dumping on her. She started pulling her hands down slowly when the next wave suddenly hit her. It hit her hard.

The worms covered and crawled all over Addie immediately.

Another round of laughter filled the cafeteria. This time, Blake laughed so hard that he had to hold his stomach. Then he made the mistake of looking back up at Addie. When he did, he saw her looking right back at him.

It stopped him dead in his tracks. He couldn't laugh anymore. He suddenly could feel her humiliation, her fear… her pain. The look in her eyes made his heart drop to his stomach. It was as if he had betrayed her somehow.

He felt his chest tighten and his throat close up but Addie broke her gaze and ran out of the cafeteria. His chest and throat felt normal again. He wasn't sure what had happened.

After a couple more minutes of laughter, the cafeteria's hysterical buzz started to die down. As if on cue, the bell rang.

Blake stood up from his seat and people began congratulating him on the successful prank.

"Great job! Anyway, see you later bro," a friend at his table said. The rest of the popular group followed, out of the cafeteria except for Carla.

"That was awesome!" she said. She sounded a little breathless from the laughter.

Under normal circumstances, Blake would have agreed. But something happened between him and Addie... Something he didn't understand. But it was enough to change his mind.

"No. No, it wasn't," Blake replied.

Blake gathered himself and started walking out behind everyone else.

"What do you mean it wasn't?" Carla asked as she kept up behind him.

"I mean that it was _not _awesome. It wasn't cool."

"Why not? That went perfectly. She was totally humiliated. What's your problem? She's a freak. She totally deserved it and it was _hilarious_! Don't act like I didn't see you laugh your butt off."

"Right," Blake said and he continued walking without another word.

"Wait. Blake. You don't actually care about this social outcast, do you?" Carla said after a while.

Blake choked out a little laugh.

"You're kidding me right? Why in the world would I care for an ugly vermin loving witch?" But even as he said it, something didn't feel right.

"Okay, good. Because _I_ am your girlfriend and she's not even _friend_ worthy. You better remember that."

Their conversation there.

The next day, after school, Blake arrived at the sports center and made his way to the locker rooms. He left his bag there but took out his bottle. When he walked to the courts he saw that Carla was already there, dolled up in her tennis mini dress. He noticed how it hugged her curves in the right places and how the skirt showed off her long legs.

"Hey Blake!" Carla said when she saw Blake coming her way.

She rushed over to him and tried to plant a kiss on his lips. Blake dodged quickly and the kiss landed on his cheek. Carla's fruity smelling perfume filled his nostrils.

Carla noticed this and asked, "Blakey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just… Let's just play," Blake said. Then he put down his bottle on a bench next to a random empty court and walked in.

Blake had the feeling Carla was a little mad at him for dodging the kiss. So to make her happy, he let her win the round. It worked and she cheered up.

"I won again Blake. Can't touch this," she announced smugly while pointing at herself with both her index fingers.

Blake gave her a stiff smile that didn't reach his eyes.

There was something haunting his mind. It was the run-in with Addie when he tried to apologize, the day before. He walked out of the court to sit on the bench just outside of it.

He didn't know why every time they touched, weird things happened. Addie kept accusing him of shocking her with something. That wasn't even true. He genuinely thought she shocked _him_ at one point. Something strange was definitely going on between them.

Carla walked out of the court and sat next to him.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" she asked as she slid her fingers up his forearm. She couldn't be more obvious about what she had in mind.

"I'm busy." he said. It wasn't true, he had nothing much to do but he knew what she meant and he wasn't up for it.

"Busy with what?"

"Stuff."

"Don't lie to me." Carla said, irritated.

"I'm not."

"You're not still mad at me about yesterday are you?"

"Who said I was ever mad?"

Blake wasn't mad. Well, he wasn't mad at her. Actually, he wasn't really sure.

He stood up and drank the cold water from his bottle. It refreshed his entire body as he chugged it down. He loved the contrast between his cooling drink and the blazing hot sunlight. Carla stood next to him and waited.

After Blake was done, Carla took him by surprised and wrapped her arm around his.

"Okay, fine," she said.

She kissed him on the cheek and leaned into his ear.

"If you're not mad, come over tonight," she whispered with a giggle.

Blake gave her a meaningless smile. He felt uncomfortable. He took a step back absent-mindedly, Carla took a step forward. She tried to pull Blake toward her but Blake stopped her and held her by the shoulders. He looked into her eyes with a stern expression.

"Carla. Can't we not?" he asked.

"Not what?" she said.

"Can you just stop clinging on to me right now?"

"What? You never had a problem with it before."

Blake sighed. He let go of her shoulders.

"I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"This is about that vermin loving witch isn't it?" Carla asked accusingly.

"Her name is Addie," Blake said, dodging the question.

"Seriously? It is! What the hell is wrong with you? Get over it! It was like yesterday. Thinking about that prank should make you happy, not all grouchy! What the hell is wrong with you?" Carla ranted.

"Carla, calm down."

"Calm down? I'm asking you to come over to my place, and you're thinking about that bitch?" Carla sounded angry. Very angry.

"Carla, please just relax."

Blake held Carla's hand and looked into her eyes. At first he gave her a deep and loving expression. Something that said 'sorry' and 'I care' at the same time. Then he gave her the best smile he could. The one he saw millions of girls trip themselves over. All of them had. Except for one girl.

Carla sighed, falling for his trick.

"Fine I will…" she said. Then she thought about it for a while and a little frustration crinkled through her face.

"But Blakey, you can't! I mean, we can't-"

"Skye! You're here that's great!" Blake said when he saw Skye, effectively cutting off Carla. But she wasn't about to be put down so easily.

_We can't be fighting over that stupid loser! _Blake heard Carla say telepathically. She sounded even more annoyed than before.

_Who said we were fighting? Carla, you should just let it go, _Blake replied. He was starting to get annoyed too.

_So it really is about her…_

_BRING! _

Carla turned and huffed out a quick breath. Her eyes turned to razors when she saw Addie next to Skye. Blake followed her gaze and saw her.

"Addie..." he said, trailing off.

_BRING BRING!_

_What the hell is she doing here? She is so dead, _Carla said to Blake telepathically before she said, "what are you doing here?" out loud.

_BRING BRING BRING!_

The loud ringing of my alarm clock woke me up.

Time for school, I thought.


	8. Chapter 8: Soulmates?

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p>Hey Ya'll! Here's the chapter I promised! :D<p>

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><p><span>Chapter 8<span>

Belle and I were having lunch in Starbucks on Friday. We broke our usual strict Monday routine because we needed to talk about our Out of the Circle partners. Though it was only the first week of school, our schedules were already packed and we only had enough time to talk during lunch. You couldn't gossip too easily in a school filled with super-hearing supernatural beings. Belle was settled comfortably with her legs crossed in the seat across me. I cocked my head to look at Belle properly. There was something different about her and I only just noticed.

She wasn't wearing anything unusual. She had on a plain solid-colored tank top with her golden heart shaped locket and skinny jeans. Everyday, she wore a tank top with a different color or design, or a slightly different cut. Belle had this small obsession over matching outfits, in a different way than most people knew. She almost wore nothing but tank tops. She even wore them under her coats in cold weather. Thank goodness for her, she looked great in them.

I examined her carefully from head to toe. Then it hit me. Her head and toes. Belle had gotten blonde highlights to her light brown hair. It wasn't very noticeable, but definitely gave a sense of change. They added a sort of excitement to her hair. She was also wearing heels. Belle barely ever wore heels. She would always complain that they were tacky and uncomfortable.

Something was definitely up. I felt silly for not realizing this earlier. Especially because she was taller than usual.

"Belle, when exactly did you get highlights? And why in the world are you wearing heels?" I asked in an almost accusing tone.

Belle looked at me and gave an innocent shrug.

"Oh, you noticed?" she said, as if she were surprised that I asked. She ran her fingers through her hair carelessly and gave me a lazy smile.

I rolled my eyes at her tone and gave her my, "Belle, there's something you're not telling me," look. She recognized it instantly and sighed.

"Fine. Yes, I got highlights and I'm wearing heels. I just wanted to look nice… or different. It's Skye's birthday today, he's turning eighteen."

Skye. I had forgotten about him. It interested me how different Belle was when it came to Skye. She was always usually cool, confident and classy. Well, not always classy, but who could pull that off as a seventeen year old? Belle was a wild child. I remember once in freshmen year she was dared to set one of our school's classrooms on fire and set it on fire, she did. That earned her the title, Fire Starter. This was two years before she discovered her power. Talk about coincidence.

As wild and crazy as she was, something about Skye changed her. Around him, she twisted a hundred and eighty degrees and become this madly shy and awkward girl. Her delicate name suited this strange new personality. But she was barely ever around him. There was something Skye did to her that nobody else could. Not even me. It was a shame he didn't notice. It was so positively Taylor Swift.

"Skye's birthday is today?" I asked. For some reason I felt guilty that I didn't know. I also felt guilty that I didn't get him a present. It's funny, because we weren't even friends. But after that day at the center, it sort of felt like we were. He was nice to me.

"Yes, and he's having a party. I guess if I looked pretty today he might just notice enough to invite me," Belle said. This wasn't like her. She would never dress up to impress. She just knew she would impress no matter what.

I also thought she was a bit demented for thinking a couple of highlights and heels would change his perspective of her. It's not like she wasn't already beautiful. That was the problem with night people. I'm pretty sure a lot of humans think that they don't get accepted into NWA because they don't meet the beauty requirement.

Belle surely met them. She went past just meeting them. Belle was the lean athletic looking type of girl. She was a few inches taller than me, had hazel-green eyes, and dewy olive skin. She loved to spend time in the sun and go swimming, while I would just stay back, afraid I'd end up drowning someone with my clumsiness. Although swimming was a beloved past time, Belle sculpted her body from ballet and figure skating. Yes, Miss Fire Starter was a ballerina and figure skater. At least the name, Belle, fits.

"Belle! You're better than this. You know you don't need to dress up for anyone. Especially not some guy."

Belle took a sip of her espresso and frowned.

"But he's not just _some_ guy. He's a yummy yummy British guy! I broke up with Aiken for him. Aiken and I had a _real_ connection."

I rolled my eyes at that last part.

"Belle, you were with Aiken for four days when Skye transferred. You guys didn't connect."

Skye transferred to NWA in sophomore year from a private human school in Italy. If I were him I would have stayed in Italy. Who wouldn't want to be lathered with Italian food everyday? And didn't all boys have a thing for Italian cars?

"Yeah... I don't even remember Aiken's last name..." Belle said slowly, nodding her head.

"Whatever," she added, "Skye is so worth it."

"Mhm. Sure. So how are things with you and Gaia?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Oh it's fine," she said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Did you know he's the guidance counselor's Son?"

I did a spit take of my strawberry smoothie in my mind.

"Ms. Lark has a son?" I said a little too loudly. I was shocked. She looked so young. She acted so young.

"Is she married?" I asked. It was really strange for a married woman to fall over Blake as much as she did. But then again, maybe she just felt old and lonely. Ugh, what a cougar.

"No, there's no Mr. Lark. Apparently Gaia was the result of a one night stand while Ms. Lark was in university."

"So he's a witch-werewolf hybrid?"

"Yeah, I guess. But he pretends to be fully werewolf, which is why he only takes Lycanthropy," Belle said as she uncrossed her legs and took a bite out of her food.

"How interesting. You learnt all this from one session?"

Belle told me a little about Gaia and their activities together. Belle chose swimming as the sport and wasn't shy about mentioning Gaia's well sculpted abs. Yes, abs were always appreciated. The art that they had was ball dancing. Strange. Apparently Ms. Lark put them up to it. Still, everything was normal between them. No choking with rackets.

"Whateffer, enough about my boring partner. Fwhat went down wiff you and Frankenstein's Barbie? I can't beleef you made me wait until now to tell me," Belle said, while chewing a mouthful of cheese cubes.

I smiled at her table manners. How Belle of her. Like I said, not always classy.

I told her everything that happened in the tennis court. I even told her about my strange dream.

"So, Carla turns out to be even more of a psychopath than she already is, then you dream about her and goldilocks. Why?"

Goldilocks. I laughed inwardly at that. That was new. I think I lost track of all the nicknames Belle and I gave Blake and Carla.

"How would I know? It was so... _real_. When I woke up, I could almost… feel Blake. Like we were connected."

"Gross."

"I know right?"

"Poor you, Addie. At least my partner doesn't have a deranged and super jealous girlfriend."

"Yeah…"

"Then again, you did spend some time with Skye."

"That's your dream, Belle. Not mine. But yeah, he was nice."

I looked down and saw the time on my watch. Yes, I'm one of those people who wear a watch.

"Hey, we have to go."

"Alright," Belle said. Then she took her final bites from her snack plate and gulped down the rest of her espresso.

Belle and I made it to school just in time. We went our separate ways. Belle went to Biology and I headed for Blake's and my study session in the school library.

Right before I reached the doors somebody tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned around to find a handsome face with dark hair smiling at me.

"Oh! Skye," I said.

"Hey Addie," he replied. My daily dose of British ear candy.

What was he doing talking to me again? And in school this time. This was strangely out of routine.

"Um… Happy Birthday!" I announced a little too loudly when I remembered. It was slightly awkward but then Skye laughed and gave me another smile. This one was more genuine, unlike the careful one he gave me at the sports center.

I couldn't help but smile back. His smile was always so sweet.

"Thanks. Speaking of my birthday, I want you to come to my party tonight," he said as he handed me and invitation. It was a notebook sized golden envelope with the letter 'S' imprinted at the back in red.

"Don't miss it," he added.

Oh.

"Thanks, I wont," I said as I accepted the invitation.

Skye turned around with a wave and started walking.

"Wait! Skye!"

He looked back and me.

"Can I bring a friend?"

"Sure you can. As long as you show up, Addie," he said with a wink and then kept walking.

I stood there for a moment. Speechless. I had never been invited to a popular kid party. Especially not with an invitation that looked so... expensive. I couldn't wait to tell Belle.

I opened up the envelope to find a maroon colored card with shiny, silver writing. It stated that I was invited to Skye's eighteenth in big cursive letters. At the bottom was the address. When I checked the back, there was a golden card attached. Below the card it said, 'use this card to gain access.'

I wasn't sure what that meant exactly. Was it a ticket? A trade? Some kind of proof? I would find out later anyway.

"You're not actually thinking of going, are you?" a deep voice boomed from the library doors behind me.

It was Blake.

"What's it to you?" I asked. It wasn't any of his business whether I was going to Skye's party or not, regardless of Skye being his best friend.

"Nothing. Just remember, Carla is going to be there. You can dodge her in school, but not at Skye's place."

"Because I'm so scared of Carla"

"Suit yourself," he said, then he gave me a wink.

"Your funeral," he added.

"Whatever," I said.

Well, he's back to his jerky, big-headed self.

I was completely unaffected. If Carla was going to be there, I could give her a piece of my mind. The day after I threw her across the court, I knew my powers had grown. I went to a private training room in the Spellcasting and Powers class to test them out. There was one target dummy in the room. I didn't know exactly what I was trying to do, so I put out my hands toward it and concentrated. I remembered how angry I was when I flung Carla with my mind. That wasn't enough though, so I tried harder.

It hurt; getting myself angry and getting my powers working. I thought back to the time I was so angry at myself for not being able to save my mother. For being too weak. The rage burst through my body in an instant. With that, I let out a scream of pain and the target dummy exploded.

I fell to my knees and felt a wetness in my nostrils. When I looked down to the floor, I saw blood droplets. This was followed by a slight dizzy sensation.

My nose was bleeding and I was probably going to faint. It didn't matter though. I was ecstatic. I didn't even know that my power allowed me to make things explode. I guess it made sense. If I was able to move things with my mind, why couldn't I move individual cells in a body, or different parts in a car, or molecules in a target dummy?

It was amazing. In a matter of days I moved from floating books to exploding target dummies. I had found the answer to developing my powers.

Rage.

Back to reality, Blake and I walked into the library through the tall wooden doors.

I loved our school library. It was a separate building on its own and stretched up to five stories. Each floor had it's own general category.

From the outside, it looked like a typical brick building, but with fancy windows. From the inside, it was like being in a fairy-tale like castle filled with books. Lots and lots of books. The decoration was splendid. As if you really were in the home of a royal family. Leaving out the lobby and computer area, everything looked like it was from the renaissance era. The paintings, the shelves, the reading couches and even the architecture itself.

There was even an original painting by Leonardo Da Vinci hanging near the reception. It was displayed behind velvet ropes. It looked like the most prized and expensive piece in our library. Yet the student body still mocked me for defending Da Vinci three years earlier. Whatever.

I sighed a happy sigh. The library took my breath away every time.

Blake must have noticed.

"You like this place, don't you?" he said.

"State the obvious much?"

"Just trying to make conversation."

"Don't bother. Let's just find some seats in the study area."

Blake just shrugged and followed behind me as I headed for the study area on the third floor.

The third floor was filled with subject books, reference books and any other books that were related to school. The right end of the floor was a place made just for studying. There were rows of wooden tables and matching chairs. There were a handful of students scattered around. Studying in groups or studying alone. I headed for a place that was far from everybody else.

"Okay," I said as I sat down and placed my bag on the desk.

"What's your worst subject?" I asked. I figured we could start with Blake's worst subject. It might have benefited me if we studied mine, but I didn't have a worst subject. The upside of being a social reject is that you just have that much more time to study. I was a pretty badass student. Study wise I mean.

Blake plopped himself on the chair opposite of me.

"Uh, I don't know… Chemistry?"

For the next hour we both went through our most recent chemistry notes and I kept pushing him to work. I had a feeling he wanted to talk to me about something and I wasn't up for it. I didn't want to interact with Blake anymore than I needed to.

After we were done, I immediately cleaned out my side of the desk and packed my stuff. I got up before Blake was done with his own things, but he caught up to me. Damn that vampire speed.

"Addie, hold on. I need to talk to you."

I sighed and stopped to look up at him.

"What?" I asked.

Blake moved in close to me but I backed away.

"Don't touch me," I warned, glaring. I really didn't feel like getting shocked.

"Addie, relax," he said, walking even closer.

I stepped back and after a few moments he ended up cornering me to a wall. I let out a small yelp when my back hit the brick behind me. Not this again, I thought.

"It's just… I've been doing some research," he started. Then stretched out his hand to the wall, right next to my face and looked down at me. His gaze was serious.

My heart started pounding fast. I felt weird. He was really looking at me. Like… like I was lunch or something. It was really hard for me to breathe.

"Oh, hell. Stop breathing my air!" I let out. I didn't know what else to say.

"What?" he said, his voice and expression riddled with puzzle.

"What?" I repeated after him. I didn't know why.

"Huh?"

"I didn't say anything," I said awkwardly.

I swooped out from under his arm and ended up behind him. He turned to me instantly.

"Oops, uh. Look at the time!" I said, pointing at my watch.

"I have Spellcasting and Physics. I mean Powers," I said to him and backed away slowly.

I locked onto his gaze to make sure he didn't come after me. It was a really weird form of logic which made sense to me in that time.

"Wait, Addie," he said, reaching for my hand then he stopped mid-way.

He didn't want to touch me. I stopped backing from him at that. It surprised me a little. I thought that he would take any opportunity to shock me again. But there was this voice in the back of my mind saying that he was never the one who shocked me in the first place. I ignored the voice.

I stood there awkwardly, still looking into his eyes.

Blake straightened up but then looked down to the floor and muttered something.

"What?" I said.

"I think that we're..." and then he muttered something really softly again.

"Blake, what the hell are you saying?"

Blake sighed and looked back up at me.

"Addie, I think we're… I think that we're soulmates," he finally uttered.


	9. Chapter 9: The Party

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

* * *

><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p>Alright, sorry that I have been away for a while. I didn't have a functioning computer for many months (since my last chapter posting) and I couldn't really write on an Ipad too comfortably. Anyway, no, I have not given up on this story. Let's go! (:<p>

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 9<span>

Soulmates.

Soulmates?

...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

He had to be kidding. How freaking ridiculous.

"Soulmates? You are joking, right?" I asked with my eyebrows raised. I didn't let him answer.

"I would rather drink the water out of a toilet bowl for the rest of my life. No, I'd rather have that toilet bowl _be_ my soulmate. I could actually give you a list of things that I would rather have as my soulmate."

I held up a hand and started counting down.

"Like a skunk. Or a fig tree. Or a bus stop sign. Or-"

"-_Addie_," he interrupted with an authoritative tone. His jaw was rigid and his eyes were dark.

"What?"

He looked at me without answering, and we stood silently for a few minutes.

During those minutes, my mind was racing. Why would he talk about soulmates? Wasn't that taking this whole 'pranking war' a little too far? It's not like I would fall for it for a second anyway.

Blake looked deep in thought until he let out a long breath.

"Nothing."

What is going on? I thought as I noticed the strange atmosphere between us. Wasn't he supposed to be laughing his butt off right about now?

For a brief moment, I wondered if he was being serious. I wondered if he truly believed we were soulmates. Blake couldn't be such a good actor, could he? Well, either he was or he was telling me the truth. At least he probably _thought_ he was telling me the truth.

If he thought he was telling me the truth, he must have been out of his mind. Or on drugs. Probably both. I felt a bit of sympathy start to well up in me. Poor sod.

"Blake…" I called out carefully. I held out my hand a little, but pulled back. I was afraid to touch him, just like he was afraid to touch me. I didn't know what else to say, so I awkwardly looked away.

But... Soulmates? C'mon. Where did he even get that idea?

We've known each other for years and there was absolutely nothing indicating that we were soulmates. I wasn't even attracted to him. Not even a little bit. Nope. Not at all.

Seriously, what could possibly make him think that I would believe we were soulmates for even a second? Well... there was that weird thing with the touching. The electricity. The burning.

What was that?

No. That was him with some weird prank up his sleeve. Literally.

Yeah, that's it.

I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts and looked back up at him. His features had turned soft and his lips were curling up into... a smile?

He was smiling.

Then he started laughing.

"Man, I'm sorry! I couldn't pull that off with a straight face anymore." He breathed out the words in between chuckles.

Huh?

"You were right. Obviously, I was joking. But I almost got you, didn't I?" He added while wiping away phantom tears from his laughter.

Of course. The bastard.

I wasn't buying it for second anyway. He should have held out a little longer. Maybe I would have believed him, it probably would have been funnier.

I let out a little 'ugh'.

"Like I said, a toilet would be my better option." I gave him a tight lipped smile that didn't reach my eyes.

He gave me a smirk in return.

"Toilets are definitely more your type than tall, gorgeous, blond guys."

I rolled my eyes. Even when he insulted me, he found a way to be extremely conceited.

"I really do have Spellcasting and Powers right now. I know you have your vamp classes, so if you will excuse me."

I left without another word.

* * *

><p>After a long and tiring class of Spellcasting and Powers, I went to the guidance counselor's office to pass up my booklet for the week.<p>

Blake and Ms. Lark were seated on the couch, having some kind of conversation.

"…and that's why I like the blue one better!" I heard Ms. Lark say. They both laughed, ignoring the fact that I was in the room.

Ms Lark, a teacher, was doing exactly what the popular kids did to me whenever I passed by their lunch table.

I walked over to her desk to leave my booklet with the rest of the pile.

"Oh, hello Adeline," Ms Lark said in a bored tone, finally acknowledging my presence. She put down the mug she was holding onto the coffee table.

"I assume your week with your partner went well?" she asked.

"Oh, it went _amazingly_. Blake is definitely my cup of tea," I said in a very sarcastic tone.

Ms. Lark didn't seem to pick up on it because she just smiled, and said, "That's good to know. I hope you both have been writing regularly in your booklets."

"I have," Blake and I said in unison.

I didn't expect that. Blake seemed like the kind of guy who slacked at everything he did except for sports... and being popular. Oh, and teaming up with his psycho girlfriend to make my life miserable.

But maybe that was my prejudiced view toward good looking jocks.

Scratch that. It was my prejudiced view toward jocks that looked like Barbie dolls.

I really wondered what he wrote though. I certainly didn't write the entire truth.

"Okay. Thanks Ms. Lark," I said and walked out of the office, leaving her and Blake to chat again.

Later that day I was pulling up the driveway with Belle at my house. We both got out of her car, carrying some things to get help us get ready for Skye's party. I had shown Belle the invitation during Spellcasting and Powers. She seemed disappointed that I was the one who got an invitation instead of her, so I told a little white lie that Skye made me ask Belle to come as well. It didn't hurt her if she didn't know that I was the one who asked, right?

We walked up to my front porch, bags in our hands, and I fumbled with my keys until I finally unlocked the door.

"Dad! I'm back! Belle's here too!" I shouted as I pushed the door open with the side of body. I knew my father was still home because Fridays were his day off. Other days he'd be in his office.

He was sitting in the living room, reading a book.

"Hi darling. Hi Belle. I hope you both had fun in school today," he said, as he turned up from his book to face us.

"Hey Mr. Rosewood. School was good," Belle said.

"Yeah, it was," I added. I lied. Well, I think I lied. Did I have a good time in school today? I wasn't sure. I had a _weird_ time, that's for sure.

I was about to head to my room, upstairs, when I remembered something.

"Hey Dad, can I go to a party tonight?" I asked.

"A party?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes Dad, a party. And no, I'm not crashing... Belle and I got an invite. It's Skye's eighteenth birthday," I said.

"Skye... Is that the British fellow you told me about?," he asked.

"That's the one."

"Alright, have fun. Don't stay out too late," he said, putting on his 'stern father' voice.

"Thanks!"

Belle and I hurried up to my room as my father burrowed himself back into his book.

We spread out the contents of the bags onto my bed. We had about three hours to get ready for the party. Belle and I wanted to get there at least half an hour after it started, it would be weird to be there first ones there.

We both took turns for the shower. The invitation said to dress 'semi-formal' whatever that meant, so Belle and I spent a good forty minutes in our towels picking out our outfits.

Once we were happy with what we were wearing, Belle suggested I should straighten my hair.

I plugged out my straightening iron and some hair product, and proceeded to try to tame my hair.

"I can't believe we're actually going to Skye's birthday party!" she squealed as she drew her eyebrows in front of my vanity table.

"I thought you hated popular kid parties," I said.

Belle always complained about how those parties were just an excuse to gather a bunch of horny teenagers to sexually harass one another or do weird, illegal things.

"Of course, but you know that Skye is an exception."

That I did know. Sure Skye seemed like a pretty decent guy, but I felt Belle went out of her way to stick up for him all the time. It was so out of character.

It took a while, but I finally finished straightening out my curls. I was shocked to see the result.

As cheesy as it may be, when I looked into the mirror, I saw my mother looking back at me.

"Damn girl, you look just like your mom," Belle said, pretty much reading my mind.

She knew how my mother looked because of the many photos I had shown her.

"She always did have nicer hair than me," I said.

Belle laughed.

"She was so beautiful," Belle said, while looking at my face.

"She was," I told her softly.

I sighed, thinking about her. I missed her so much.

I missed her gentle smiles. I missed the way she comforted me when I was upset about something silly. I missed the way her clothes always smelled of lavender. I missed how she would hug me everyday when I came back from school.

It hurt so much to think that I could never hug her and tell her that I love her ever again.

"She's still with you Addie," Belle said, squeezing my hand.

I squeezed back hard and smiled.

We continued getting ready until it was finally time to leave.

* * *

><p>Skye's house was absolutely huge. It was actually more of an estate than simply a house. His parents owned acres and acres of land that stretched further than the eye could see. It was so big that they actually had a separate building reserved just for parties.<p>

Belle and I needed the golden card to access the gates of the estate, and then again to get to the parking lot next to the party building. They had a freaking parking lot.

The party building alone was what I always imagined Gatsby's mansion looked like, from The Great Gatsby. It even had the pool!

There were people everywhere. On the dance floor, in the pool, the bar, and pretty much everywhere else. The music was pounding in time with the fancy lights. It was like being inside a club. A sort of fancy club.

Skye popped out of nowhere, right in front of me and Belle. Psht, vampires.

He was wearing a suit but his hair was disheveled, making him look a little more casual. I had to admit, he looked really good.

"Addie! You look beautiful," he said to me as I took in his very British inflections.

I blushed.

"Uh... Thanks," I said a little shakily. I was not expecting any sort of compliment from anyone.

He turned over to face Belle.

"Oh, hello there, love. You're Addie's friend, right? Belle... was it?" he said.

I crossed my fingers, hoping Belle didn't catch on that Skye didn't really seem to know her. She didn't catch on. Actually, she was probably exploding from the fact that he called her 'love'. It was all over her face.

"Yes! Belle! I'm Belle. My name is Belle," she said excitedly as she held out her hand to him.

"Enchanté," Skye said, he picked up her hand and gave it a light peck, looking her right in the eyes.

Belle gave out this adorable little giggle.

"You too," she said in a dreamy tone.

Wow... Did that just happen? I thought.

"Alright, I need to go settle some stuff with the DJ. I'll see you lot later," he said.

"Sure," I said and he walked off with a little wave.

When he was out of view, Belle immediately turned to me and squealed.

"Oh my gosh Addie, I can't believe it! We're actually here! Did you just see what happened? He like, kissed my hand! We totally had a moment!"

I laughed.

"Yeah."

Belle kept squeaking a little more about Skye, and when she was finally done, she said, "okay. I'm going to go dance, want to come?"

She was totally just going to go check out Skye while he talked to the DJ.

"No, you go right ahead, I'm just going to look around a little more. This place is crazy," I said.

"Alright. See you later."

Belle headed off to the dance floor and I awkwardly started pacing around.

After a while, I got hungry, so I headed over to the place where all the hors d'oeuvres were, and started munching on mini fruit tarts. Yum.

In the midst of pigging out, someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around to face the culprit.

It was the birthday boy.

When he saw my mouth filled with tarts, he laughed.

"Hungry?"

I smiled, a little embarrassed, and tried to chew my food as fast as possible. I was done with a few huge gulps and my mouth was finally free to talk.

I cleared my throat and said, "these tarts are _really_ good."

"I'm glad you like them."

"Yeah..."

There was a bit of an awkward silence for a while.

"Hey, I want to show you something. Come with me."

Before he waited for my reply, he started walking to the direction of the main entrance, and I had no choice but to follow. We reached the doors and he led me outside the building.

Well this is random. Where is he taking me? I thought to myself.

The cool night air blew right into me and I shivered.

Skye must have noticed because without a word, he took off his suit jacket and put over my shoulders.

There was a lot of land around us in all directions. Lots of trees. Skye started directing us up a path just ahead. After a few minutes of walking we reached a beautiful lake.

"Wow," I said, taking in the view. There was a fair bit of moonlight that was bright enough to light the entire area. It was breathtaking.

Skye sat down under what looked like a tall oak tree. He patted the grass next to him. I obeyed the pat and sat down.

"Why'd you bring me here?" I asked.

The lake was incredible and all, but I didn't understand what I was doing sitting by it, under a tree with a guy I barely knew.

"Well, remember that English class, last semester, where we had to write a poem about our favorite things?" he asked.

I tried remembering and I did. It was so silly, that class. But it was interesting to hear everybody try to rhyme their favorite things together.

"Yeah," I said.

"I paid attention to yours," he said.

Oh yes. In my poem I had mentioned lakes. How did he remember that? More importantly, why did he remember that? I turned my head to study him. He was looking out at the lake and had a smile on his face. The kind that only pulled half of his lips to the side.

"Why did you care about my stupid poem?" I said jokingly.

Skye turned to me, his green eyes were glowing.

"It wasn't stupid," he said.

"Addie... You know... We've never run in the same circles," Skye started. It felt like he was beginning some kind of confession.

My toes curled up at the thought of this. I had a weird feeling about where this was headed.

I just nodded my head.

"I've just never had the right opportunity to tell you this... We just haven't had much reason to talk to each other."

I continued nodding my head.

"It's just..."

I braced myself for what he had to say next.

"I fancy you."


	10. Chapter 10: I Love Lasagna

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

* * *

><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 10<span>

"Addie! Where the hell did you go? I've been looking for you," Belle said, when I found her at the side of the dance floor, worried.

I just stared at her blankly.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," Belle persisted when I didn't respond to her question.

Where the hell _did_ I go?

I thought back to the scene at the lake just minutes ago. The lake had been so beautiful and calming.

"I fancy you," Skye had said.

At that moment, I was glad I was sitting down, because my knees went weak. I hugged Skye's suit jacket tighter, and tried to keep my breathing steady.

His voice, his expression... everything about Skye had been so sincere when he said those words. Not a trace of doubt, or a lie. He told me so charismatically too. Even though I was the witch, at that moment I fell under his spell.

At the same time, my mind went spinning.

Skye _liked _me. Skye liked _me_, the unpopular outcast. The girl who was bullied and left to rot in the shadows of the social hierarchy.

But then something dawned on me, and I felt a little queasy.

Belle was in love with Skye. Skye was Belle's, not mine. He couldn't like me. It wasn't right. Even being out by the lake with Skye… It made the guilt start etching at my bones.

Skye eyebrows scrunched together. He seemed to be waiting for some kind of reply.

When I didn't give him one, he began to say, "Addie, I just-"

"Stop!" I interrupted, waving my hands out at him. I didn't want him to add anything.

"Okay…" I continued slowly.

I began to lift my body off the ground, hoping that my weak knees and unsettled stomach wouldn't have me falling into the lake somehow.

"I need to go," I said quickly.

Without letting Skye say anything, I just abruptly rushed away from the Lake. I didn't dare look back, I just kept on walking, or rather racing back to the party. He didn't use his vampire speed to come after me.

That was what led me standing in front of Belle, while she demanded for my previous location.

"I needed to throw up," I lied.

I patted my stomach and added, "don't eat the tarts."

Belle's eyes grew big. I don't think I've ever thrown up before. At least not since I was a baby.

Then again, I really did feel like puking. From the weirdness of Skye's random confession. And the guilt.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she put her hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm better now," I said. Before I could add to my lie, a high pitched voice pierced through the air behind me.

"Look what the cat dragged in."

An all too familiar chill ran down my spine as I turned around to face Carla and her fellow cheerleader minions. I did not need this right now.

"And look at what you did to your hair," Bridgette pointed out.

"Trying to look all pretty for someone?" Fiona added.

The three girls were standing hip to hip, Carla in the middle. Carla's hair was let loose and she was wearing a little black dress with golden heels. She would have looked really classy, if she didn't reek of stuck up cheerleader.

"It's okay Fiona, she's not going to catch anyone's attention looking like that. It doesn't matter what she does with her hair," she said.

I was actually insulted by this comment and this time, I decided I wanted to do something about it.

"When in the world are you going to stop being so jealous of me, and leave me the hell alone?" I demanded.

Carla snorted and flipped her blond locks.

"Why would I be jealous of some weirdo vermin lover?" she said.

I laughed.

"Oh goddess, Carla, you need to come up with better insults. But it's been evident time and time again that your tiny brain can't handle such a challenge," I said. I tried as hard as possible to make my words sound as condescending as possible.

"Okay, then. How about this?" Carla said, crossing her arms.

"It's pathetic of you to try so hard to look like your ugly mother."

That felt like a stab right into my heart. It hurt. A lot. Especially because Carla once knew my mother. I felt a lump well up in my throat, but I swallowed it and glared at Carla.

"Don't you dare bring my mother into this," I growled angrily.

"I just did," Carla said.

"What are you going to do about it?" she added with a bitchy smile on her heavily made-up face.

Then she took a step forward and shoved me back hard. I almost fell down, but I regained my balance.

"And what are you going to do about that?" she said.

Carla's minions were quiet. They were enjoying every moment of this, I could tell.

"How about I do this?" I said and I curled up my hand into a fist and punched Carla in the jaw.

She reeled backwards, despite her superhuman vampire powers. I had superhuman abilities too, and I was very prepared to use them.

Carla hissed and lunged at me, in a great speed. She managed to knock me down and pin me to the ground. She took her manicured hands and wrapped them tightly around my neck. I kicked her off immediately with the help of my telekinetic strength and pulled myself up.

A few people started to gather around us.

Carla dove toward me again but this time, I effortlessly dodged her attack and grabbed her arm as she went flailing forward.

I pulled Carla to face me, and looked right into her cold blue eyes, which were slightly tinted with silver now.

"Take this back to hell, bitch," I said.

I pulled together as much mental telekinetic power as I could and aimed it directly at Carla. I shot the energy right at her, and for the second time this week, she went flying backwards, crying out.

But this cry was different than the last time. It sounded even more agonizing than before.

Carla hit the wall before she fell to the ground with a loud thud. I still held on to that mental blast into her mind. I was incredibly angry, and it fueled the blast well.

I put out my hand and pointed it at Carla to focus the energy better and started walking closer.

She was immobilized, crouched on her knees with her arms to her head, and she was screaming.

"Don't you dare..." I said slowly, walking closer to Carla.

"Insult my mother..." I strengthened my mental grip on her and she cried out louder.

"EVER AGAIN!" I screamed. I felt a burst of wetness dripping down my nose. I was pushing myself really hard, but I didn't care. My mom had been nothing but nice to Carla. She crossed the line too far this time.

As I ripped her insides with my mind, a cut slowly started to form on Carla's forehead, and blood started oozing out.

Her shrill scream rung through my ears and I realized the music had stopped. Everybody was crowded around the two of us.

"Addie, stop!" I heard someone shout. It was very soft, drowned out by the sound of Carla's screams and by a dizziness that started to take over me.

I let go of my grip on Carla. When I did, I immediately dropped to my knees and Carla fell down completely.

That voice, I realized, belonged to Blake. I caught his gaze just in time to see his horrified expression.

He rushed over to Carla and asked her if she okay.

I rubbed the blood from my nose away with the back of my hand and steadied myself up.

"Addie, are you okay? What the hell just happened?" Belle asked with concern.

I held my index finger under my nostrils and kept it there.

"I'm fine," I said. But the truth was, I wasn't fine. I was worn out from the fight and hurt by Carla's words. But also, I felt guilty that I hurt Carla. The girl who used to be my closest friend. For some reason, it was much worse after I saw the way Blake looked at me for it.

I tried to walk a little but stumbled on my own feet and Belle caught me before I tripped. I held on to my stomach and looked at the floor, trying to calm my body down.

When I regained composure, I looked around, and everybody was pointing and whispering. I glanced at Blake and Carla. Carla was back on her feet and Blake was holding her. Thankfully, Skye wasn't anywhere to be seen. I didn't need him to add to this drama.

"Hey, let's get out of here," I said to Belle.

"Okay," she said.

We both walked out to the parking lot.

Belle unlocked her car and opened the door for me. A wave of guilt filled me up again. Belle was being so considerate of me. I knew that she wanted to stay at the party and get to know Skye better. Instead, she was now going to drive me home because I picked a fight with Carla. We barely spent an hour there and we didn't even get to the cake. But Belle, being Belle, dropped everything to take care of me.

There was no way I could ever tell her what Skye had told me. At least not yet.

When we got into the car and belted up, Belle pointed at my shoulders, "hey, isn't that Skye's jacket?" she asked.

Crap.

I still had his jacket on me. How was I going to explain that to Belle? I really didn't need_ this_ right now.

"Oh this?" I said, looking at the jacket and fingering the hem. I was trying to buy myself some time.

"I uh… I was throwing up outside and... Skye saw me and… I guess… he thought… I was cold?" I suggested weakly.

Wait, why was I lying to her?

"Aw, Skye is such a nice guy. I don't see him around anywhere though… I guess he won't mind if you return it tomorrow," she said.

Why did she believe me?

Well, it was too late to back out now. Great, I was lying to my best friend and I didn't even know why.

I suddenly had this thought, where I would suggest to Belle that she gave the jacket back to Skye tomorrow instead of me, so that she could strike up a conversation with him without it being awkward. That way, maybe, just maybe, Skye would develop and interest in Belle after seeing what a cool person she is.

But then I realized, that was one of the dumbest plans I had thought up so far. If Belle talked to Skye and asked about me throwing up, what would he say?

No, I decided not to make the suggestion.

"Good idea," I said.

Belle opened up the glove compartment and handed me a tissue.

"Here, wipe your nose with that," she said.

"Thanks."

Belle, stop being such a good friend, I thought.

She started the car and we drove out of Skye's estate. During the drive back to my house, I pretended to feel really tired and closed my eyes.

When we reached my house, Belle asked me if I was going to be alright. I told her that I would be perfectly fine. Yet another lie I had thrown out there.

She drove away waving back at me, smiling. I gave her a weak smile and waved in return, keeping up my 'extra tired' pretense.

I had just landed myself in a really messed up situation.

* * *

><p>The next morning I was lying in bed, or dying in bed, feeling completely and utterly embarrassed. My dad had already left for work so he wasn't there to tease me and make me feel worse.<p>

Why would he tease me, you ask? Well, I've always had a tendency of telling my parents everything. We were always very close. Since my mother past away, my dad and I got just that much closer.

Which means I told him everything.

He found my fight with Carla amusing, but he told me that I should try to make up with her. Other than that, he couldn't help but tease me about Skye.

Addie, you idiot! What have you gotten yourself into now? I thought, as I flipped myself over and burrowed my face into my pillow.

Last night, it turned out that Skye 'fancied' me. Then I just left him there. Then I lied to Belle about it. Then I got into a fight with Carla._  
><em>

The strangest thing though, above everything else, I was thinking about Blake freaking Tarragon.

The way he looked at me was awful. I couldn't get the image out of my head. I had disappointed him somehow.

It bugged me more than I cared to admit.

"Ugh," I coughed out as I pushed myself away from my covers and got out of bed. I walked over to my vanity table and studied the mirror.

I scrunched up my face at my own reflection. My hair was back to normal, so it fell below my shoulders in messy bed-head curls.

I looked horrible. The tiredness showed in my face and my eyes. Oh goddess, there were dark circles under my eyes.

There was no way that Blake and I could be soulmates.

Blake was such a prep school jock, with his cropped cut features, and popular boy ways. I was more or less your typical girl next door, but with bad hair. This description obviously excludes our little Night World secret.

Anyway, he was good sports and enjoyed partying. I liked to write music and curl up in my bed, reading a classic.

He probably liked to run around the house with his mom's bra on his head and a sheet for cape, pretending to be Superman.

Weirdo.

I shrugged at myself and went to pick up my guitar that was placed next to my study desk. I plopped myself onto the bed as I adjusted my guitar on my lap.

"Blake, you're so stupid, with your stupid blue eyes and your stupid stupid lies!" I sang along to random notes I played on my guitar.

"Blake, you're so crazy, with your Barbie blon-"

_-RING RING! RING RING!_

My house phone was ringing loudly, interrupting the embarrassing jam session I was having with myself. I put down my guitar and reached over to my bedside table, feeling a little silly about my lyrics.

Blake? I thought, picking up the phone.

"Hello? May I speak to Addie?"

Wrong. It was Skye.

Wait… Skye?

"Yeah, this is Addie," I said.

I heard a sigh of relief over the phone.

"Brilliant! This is Skye by the way," he said.

What was Skye doing calling me? How did he even know my number?

"How did you get my number?" I asked. I almost sounded accusing.

There was a brief pause and an awkward laugh over the line.

"Uh… I rang about four other Rosewoods from the yellow pages before I finally got to your house," he blurted out.

I tried to hold back my laugh, but it came out anyway.

"You didn't!" I cried.

"Oh yes, I did."

"I didn't know Rosewood was such a common last name!"

Skye gave a little laugh.

"It isn't, I kind of forgot to check only our area. I'm not used to the yellow pages in this country," he said.

I gave him a loud and hearty laugh. He was so silly!

It was such a cheesy thing to do, but it put a smile on my face.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"It's about last night."

Oh.

For that moment I had completely forgotten about the events of the night before. I felt sick again, bracing myself for what he had to say. There was so much guilt attached to his confession last night. At least there was for me. And then there was that whole thing with Carla.

"Look, before you hang up on me," Skye said quickly.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for just telling you what I did, like that. It was a down right pants thing to do."

Okay, it's not about Carla. But, pants? Must be some kind of British slang.

"Alright…" I said slowly, still hoping he wouldn't bring up Carla.

"Let me make it up to you. Meet me at the park next to the sports center at five today," he said.

I thought about it for a moment. Should I say yes?

Skye was being so random all over again. But I thought that I might as well take a chance. He did make me laugh after all. Especially when I feeling so bad about myself that it brought me down to singing the worst lyrics created in the history of bad lyrics.

"Okay," I said, taking a leap of faith.

"Great!"

I could almost hear a smile form on his lips.

"I'll see you later," he said and then he hung up.

* * *

><p>Hours after preparing myself, I finally arrived at the park, regretting that I had decided to walk. I could almost feel the sweat droplets forming on my body. I crossed my fingers, hoping I didn't look too much a mess and started walking down a white tiled path.<p>

I was in one of those extremely picturesque parks with the lush green trees, kids flying kites, and people having picnics.

Speaking of picnics, I spotted Skye on a mat with a basket. He was waving at me to walk over.

"Hi," I said as I sat down next to him on the red mat.

"Hi," he said back to me with a sheepish smile which made dimples form in his cheeks. His green eyes sparkled in the sunlight.

"Look up," he said.

I did look up and the craziest thing happened. There was a small airplane circling in the sky. In a few moments it started to spell out words against the clouds.

'I'M SORRY ADDIE,' the first line read.

'FORGIVE ME?' it finished.

My jaw dropped.

I threw my hand to my mouth, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Oh goddess!" I said.

I looked back at Skye.

"You're absolutely crazy!" I exclaimed.

Skye had a smile on his face, but he turned serious when he said, "so do you forgive me?"

I squinted my eyes at him.

"For what? I'm not upset with you or anything," I said.

"You're not?" he said, sounding genuinely surprised.

"When you just left me at the lake like that yesterday, I thought you were really angry."

Oh.

"Look, I wasn't mad… I was just confused," I said. I looked up to the clouds and spotted one shaped like a rabbit.

I looked back at Skye with an eyebrow raised.

"Shouldn't I be sorry for messing up your party?" I asked.

"What?"

My voice dropped to a soft mutter. "You know, the whole thing with Carla."

"Oh that? Don't worry about it. I remember what happened at the tennis court. The party was fine and Carla is fine. She's just a little cheesed off, maybe."

That was a relief. He wasn't mad.

"Okay."

I relaxed myself. He was being really sweet about this. It made me feel a little uncomfortable. I wasn't really used to people being so nice about things.

"Why do you like me?" I asked abruptly.

I had to know.

Skye looked a little uncertain. He shifted body to face me completely and he squared his shoulders.

"I don't know where to start," he said.

Right then, he seemed almost… scared.

"This will probably sound really cheesy but... I remember the first day I walked into the halls of NWA. The first thing I saw was a girl. She had rich dark hair and porcelain skin. But what really caught my attention were her eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes. They looked pure and innocent, yet mysterious at the same time. I guess you can say I was enchanted."

He took in a deep breath before saying, "that girl was you."

I was still taking in what he said when he continued.

"Then I made this group of friends. They welcomed me easily, but warned me to stay away from you. That you were bad news."

He said the last sentence as if it were absolutely absurd.

"Then I learned that the whole school really didn't accept you. I was unsure how to react and I was pretty gutted. I didn't know you and they were my friends. I guess I was sucked into the peer pressure of it all. But what kept my interest in you, was the way you always fought back."

His eyes pulled up, as if recollecting a memory, and he smiled.

"You have spirit."

I thought back to all the times Skye was around when the other popular kids had put me down. He was always in the background never joining in. I always found that behavior atypical for a popular boy, but his explanation made sense. It made a lot of sense.

"I _sure_ do have a lot of spirit." I didn't know what else to say.

"You do."

"And through time, I learnt that you're also creative, funny, and smart. I didn't even need to be your friend to see those things."

I just looked at him and let him continue. I was absolutely speechless.

"When Out of the Circle came out and you were paired with Blake. It finally saw the opportunity to talk to you. Which is why I'm only telling you now, after all this time."

His words were like the last piece to the puzzle. It explained why he never taunted me and why recently he'd been so nice to me.

"I like you, Addie. I really like you," Skye said, finishing his confession.

I still hadn't said anything, which must have alarmed Skye because he said, "oh no, I'm doing it again."

"Doing what?" I asked.

"The same thing that made you leave last night," he said.

"Relax Skye, I'm not gonna run off," I said. I put my hand on his arm and gave him a warm and reassuring smile. He was so nervous, it was adorable.

He didn't seem convinced, so I decided to change the subject.

"So... what are we having for this picnic?" I asked, pointing at the basket.

"Because I'm starving," I added.

That took his mind off being nervous because he went into full-on host mode immediately.

"We have the finest pastries, fresh fruits, and hot piping lasagna," he said taking out the food items one by one from the basket.

I got pretty excited. I loved lasagna. Like Garfield.

"How did you know lasagna is my favorite food ever?" I asked.

Skye eyes lit up at that.

"I didn't, but I guess I got lucky," he said. He finished setting up the whole picnic on our mat.

I hungrily attacked the pasta with a plastic fork he laid out.

"This is so good! Where did you get it?"

"I just tried out some of the recipes I had learnt back when I was in Italy," he said.

"You know how to cook?" I asked, surprised.

Not just because he was a rich boy who probably had all his meals made by a private chef, but also because he was a vampire. Sure vampires could enjoy food but they didn't really need to. They only needed blood after all.

Skye clutched his heart and made a playful 'I-am-hurt' face.

"That's painful Addie," he claimed jokingly.

"Of course I can cook. But I only got good when I moved to Italy," he said.

"Italians and their awesome cooking," I agreed.

We started talking about Skye's experiences in Italy and the few other countries he'd been to. Before we both knew it, hours had passed, and Skye was walking me back home.

It was late, and the moon was beginning to rise up against the stars.

He walked me to the front door and I looked up at him. But before I could think of any appropriately cheesy thing to say, Skye hugged me. I hugged him back.

"Thanks for today," he said, breaking away a little too soon.

"Thanks for the food," I said with a smile.

"I'll see you later then," he said.

"Yeah, see you later," I said.

He walked away with a wave. I rushed inside my house and closed the door behind me.

That was really… _Nice,_ I thought.


	11. Chapter 11: Guilt

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

* * *

><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 11<span>

On Monday morning, Belle and I were walking together into the school from the parking lot. I couldn't get the events of the previous days out of my mind. Although Skye's little picnic for us made me forget about everything for a while, it all came back immediately after. I felt guilty. Guilty that I went out with Skye. It wasn't a date or anything, but I failed to tell Belle about it anyway. I also still couldn't get Blake's horrified expression out of my head. Guilt, guilt, and more guilt.

I wanted to tell her about Skye. I wanted to tell her about Blake. I really wanted to tell Belle everything.

I didn't.

All I did was avoid any sort of conversation involving any of the popular kids. I managed to talk to her about that new Disney movie the whole car ride to school. I felt so alone. Sure, I told my dad a lot of things, but talking to him wasn't the same as talking to a friend. It would have been nice to talk to a girl my age that might understand what I was going through. I couldn't exactly go into detail about boy problems with my dad. He was teasing me enough as it is.

When we walked through the entrance, Jesse, from Belle's French, class stopped us. Well, more like stopped Belle because she completely ignored me. Or so I thought…

"Belle, darling! The lounge is opening today! I can't believe they made us wait a whole week. We were supposed to get access last Wednesday right? But apparently they changed the lounge _completely_. We're allowed inside after lunch. I can't wait," Jesse squealed.

Jesse was a small girl with a fake British accent. She spent a semester in England and ever since, she acted like she was from there. She was pretty though, so people let her get away with it. Her hair fell in sunshine blonde waves and she had these cute and small blue eyes. Basically, she looked like a shorter version of Taylor Swift. She also had the power to shapeshift... into a really pathetic creature.

Okay, I think it's pathetic because who the hell wants to shapeshift into a guinea pig? I mean, I love guinea pigs, but come on. A guinea pig?

What will you do to your closest enemy? Try to nibble them to death before they pick you up and call you fluffykins?

"O-M-G! You're Addie!" Jesse turned to face me, stamping me out of my thoughts.

She looked stunned, almost like she saw a celebrity. It was really weird. So many people who used to ignore me, have been talking to me so much recently.

"Uh. No, you just missed her. The real Addie went that way," I said dryly, pointing behind me.

I didn't know whether I had made a joke or not, but it felt stupid to me that she was so amazed that my name was Addie. Hence, the equally stupid reply.

"Hahaha! You're so funny! You're like totally the talk of the school right now." She gave out a forced laugh.

I gave her the exact same laugh in return. She detected nothing.

"So, did you really pull out one of Carla's teeth, throw her in the pool, and then stick meatballs in her hair?" Jesse asked out of nowhere.

Ah. So that's why she wasn't ignoring me. She thought I had a weird tooth and meatball fetish.

"No."

What crazy allegations. Then again, I guess it wasn't _that_ far from the truth. But, who the hell thought I put meatballs in Carla's hair? Why would I do that? Why would anyone do that?

The conversation I was having with Jesse made me feel self-conscious. 'Talk of the school', she said. I scanned my surroundings quickly and noticed people were pointing and whispering, just like they were at the party. Great.

"Oh? So she didn't shave off her hair because it smelled like rotting meat? And that thing on her head isn't a wig?" Jesse's eyes turned wide with genuine curiosity.

I narrowed my eyes and said, "I worry about the way rumors get around in this school."

"Huh?" Jesse said, confused. As if she didn't know what the word rumor meant.

Then the first bell rang.

"I'm sorry Jesse, Belle and I have to get to class. But it was nice talking to you," I said. Then I grabbed Belle's arm and rushed us away from Jesse.

"What in the world was that about?" Belle said.

"I have no idea... Although I kind of like that story about the wig."

"Me too. I'd pay _big_ money to see that girl go bald."

Belle stopped in front of her French class and I had to dive my way through the chattering crowds to English.

I was a little later than everyone else, so when I walked into the room, all eyes turned to me. Our English teacher wasn't there yet and I had to awkwardly make my way to my desk, through the stares. Although I should have kept a low profile, I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Carla.

I couldn't help but laugh because from the top of Carla's forehead, dragging down to her eyebrow was a thin scar. A scar she tried in vain to cover with foundation that didn't quite match her skin tone.

I didn't know vampires could scar. What was funnier though, was the look on Carla's face. It reminded me of an angry little imp.

Carla noticed my laugh, and her eyes turned to daggers.

"Frankenstein called, and he says he wants his ugly back," she said as I took my seat. How typical. Even with that horrific scar and imp like face, she managed to pull that out of her butt. I really felt the urge to correct her, stating that Frankenstein wasn't the name of the monster, but I let it go.

"I guess you have no objection to that," she added, when she realized I decided to ignore her.

"Of course not," I said smiling my sweetest smile.

"I can't defy you, oh great Carla, but you know, that scar really brings out your unibrow," I said, drawing a phantom line from one end of her eyebrow to the other.

In a flash, Carla became ghostly pale, and her hand flung up to her forehead. She turned away to one of her minions whispered, "you said that it wasn't obvious."

I heard the minion mutter, "I'm sorry, but I lied okay?"

Carla huffed out in annoyance and then turned back to me.

"You know what? Screw you, you little vermin loving witch!" she shouted loudly.

Too bad for her, that was when Mr. Oak decided to walk into class.

"Well good morning to you too, Miss Redfern. You just earned yourself a detention today, after school," he said.

"_Please_ Oak, what are you, some human school kindergarten teacher?"

At first Mr. Oak seemed shocked, but then his lips curled into a thin smile.

"If you wanted me to call your parents, all you had to do was ask," he replied.

That made Carla shut up. She was a little uptight when it came to her parents. Mostly because her mother was extremely old fashioned, being a Redfern and everything. She was pretty strict, and if any of Carla's teachers ever called her up, Carla wouldn't hear the end of it.

"And Miss Rosewood, whatever you did to provoke Miss Redfern gets you a warning."

I nodded quietly and Mr. Oak began to take our attendance. I had been so focused on Carla that I hadn't realized that Blake wasn't in class. He didn't respond when Mr. Oak called out for him.

Where could he be? I thought. Wait… Why do I even care?

I didn't find him after class, and the next lesson was absolutely bleak. It was one of those terrible classes where my head was literally knocking up and down because I was falling asleep. I was so horrifically bored. That is, until I got to lunch. Belle grabbed at me the moment I walked out of class.

"Addie! We _cannot_ go to Starbucks today," she said.

"Why not?"

Belle didn't say anything. Instead, she started dragging me down the hallway. She halted to a stop in front of two tall wooden double doors. They looked like any other entrance to an office in the school. Except for one thing. The door didn't have a name imprinted on golden plate, instead there were finely carved letters in cursive that spelled out the words 'Senior Lounge'.

"We can't go to Starbucks because..." Belle placed her hands on the doors and started to push them open.

"Paradise," she said dramatically as the lounge was revealed.

My jaw dropped immediately.

The lounge was incredible... and incredibly huge. It looked like a set to a preppy teen commercial.

There were kids laughing at their little café tables, and hanging out around the couches. The more playful students were having rounds at the video game consoles and the arcade machines. They even added in massage chairs for us near the shelves full of new books. But my favorite part was the food corner. There was a drinks bar, a sushi stand, a salad bar, a freaking gumball machine... and the best part? There was an Italian food stand that was serving lasagna.

I could already taste it.

What made everything even better was that there were no popular kids on site. No Carla. No Skye. No Blake.

I didn't want to see Carla for obvious reasons. And Skye... well, we had a really great time on Saturday, but I didn't really want him to be around me while Belle was looking.

Although... where was Blake? I saw Skye sometime in between classes, but Blake was still not around. He wasn't usually the type to miss school. It's not like vampires got sick days.

I stopped thinking about it, and went over to get some lasagna from the food stand. Belle got some sushi and we sat down at one of the café tables. We enjoyed the lounge until it was time to go back to classes. The rest of the day went by breezily.

* * *

><p>Blake was still a no show on Tuesday. I managed to make it through the day avoiding Skye at all costs. It was after school and I was over at Belle's house just to hang out for the day. We were on the bed, flipping through magazines.<p>

"So," Belle said, flipping a page of the latest teen celebrity gossip issue.

"You want to hear something interesting my parents told me?"

"Sure."

Belle put down the magazine to face me. "You know the talk that's been going on about soulmates and stuff?"

"Mhm." I put down my copy to look at her.

"Well, there's more to the story. All these people finding their soulmates have been gathering together and they call themselves Circle Daybreak. They're in hiding or something because some of them broke the laws of the night world."

"Okay." This was random. And really interesting.

"Apparently Thierry is their leader."

"Thierry? Like Thierry Descouedres? Night World Elder?"**  
><strong>

"Yeah, and get this; Apparently there's some sort of war coming up and the council is trying hard to keep it on the down low from most of the Night World families. My parents have contacts in Circle Daybreak, and they're supposed to be the good guys or something. But I have to be careful, if anyone from the council found out, we could be in big trouble."

Wow. A war? There was some talk about friction in the Night World and there had been lots of weird things crowding the news lately, but I never suspected a war.

"If you could get in trouble for this, why are you telling me?" I asked.

Belle gave me a warm smile.

"You're my best friend. I can't keep something like this from you. Anyway, I'd trust you with my life." She placed her hand on mine and gave it a tight squeeze.

Oh no. What sort of cruel timing is this? I thought.

The guilt was back. I hated it so much. I should have told her about Skye, then and there.

But I didn't.

Instead, I just smiled back at her and said, "thanks, Belle."

Belle just shrugged and said, "no worries. Besides, I'm not sure how serious this whole thing is. They could be rumors. My parents just told me to be careful."

She picked up her magazine again and said, "want to do a quiz on which hot celebrity you match with best?"

I laughed.

"Sure."


	12. Chapter 12: Surprises and Surprises

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p>Thanks for reviewing. I promise that I will write this story to the end! Don't worry :)<p>

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 12<span>

Sometime after school on Wednesday, I was standing in front of the art school near my house. Blake and I had discussed that we would meet here, but I didn't see him in school for the past three days. I wondered if there was any point in waiting but I did it anyway.

Besides wondering if Blake would show up, there were a lot of other things on my mind. In Spellcasting and Powers, something very interesting happened. Belle and I decided to do individual training for the first half and then in the second half of the class, we'd train our unique powers together.

My training was a bit more normal this time. No crazy rage and bloody nose. I just practiced my martial arts. Just as I was done, Belle came running at me.

"Addie! Addie!"

She ran so fast that she crashed into me and we both fell down.

We looked at each other and started laughing. We just sat there laughing for a few minutes when Belle stopped, got up and pulled me up as well.

"Addie! Something amazing just happened to me!" she announced happily.

She jumped up and down with a huge grin.

"What?" I asked, itching to know what was making her so excited.

"My unique power… It's gotten stronger. And now I can shoot things with fire Addie! My fingers are like some weird fire guns and I don't even have to use the fireball paper!" she said. Then she gave out a little squeak.

"Woah," I said.

This was extremely exciting. Belle's powers weren't just getting stronger, but they were also growing. Just like mine. Earlier that day, another witch unlocked her power. She started floating in class randomly and she was all panicked and screeching, but then she realized that she had the power of levitation.

Belle was definitely changing… now her power was finally offensive and dangerous.

"Crap! That's awesome!" I said, jumping with her.

Belle stopped jumping and grabbed my wrist. "Addie, let's go train! I want to show you!"

We ran to the shooting area and Belle placed herself in position to shoot a target.

"Okay, I can do it two ways. First I can do it like this." She held up her arm and pointed her hand at the target. Then she curled her hand up like a gun, with her thumb and index finger. She closed one eye to aim and then, as if she were pulling the trigger on a real gun, she sort of clicked her thumb down and back up and a little burst of fire shot out from the tip of her index finger. Sadly, it missed the target, but that didn't matter.

Belle could shoot fire.

She gave out a little giggle.

"Okay, that sucked. Anyway, the other method is kind of like this flame thrower thing," she said.

Then she went back into that same position, but instead of her hand being shaped like a gun, she opened up all her fingers. She closed her eyes as if to concentrate then with a little spare, fire began pouring out of her palm in a long and constant flame… just like a flamethrower.

Belle had to stop after a while though. She was catching her breath and sweating a little. She wasn't sweating because the fire was hot, but because she was draining a lot of her own energy. It took a lot out of her.

"My powers… aren't just… little candle lights anymore," she said, in between breaths. There was a suspicious glaze over her eyes.

I went over and hugged her.

"Congratulations Belle! This is really amazing. Don't tire yourself out, okay?" I said.

I thought about Belle's powers all the way to the art school. Things were changing in the Night World. The witches were getting stronger. The world was getting wilder. Nature was preparing itself for something big.

I took a deep breath, taking in these heavy thoughts, and then let it out.

"You don't have to gear up for a painting class you know," Blake said out of nowhere, startling me.

I faced him, wide eyed, thinking I was seeing a ghost.

He wasn't a ghost. He was standing there in front of me, in all his tall and blond jock-ness. He wasn't wearing the school jersey or some other kind of sporty outfit today, and he looked very different. He was wearing a very preppy looking cable knit sweater with brown trousers. It was very country club chic.

"Where have you been? Why haven't you been in school?" I asked him.

Blake looked down and ran his fingers through his hair sheepishly. "It was some family stuff."

This was really weird. The atmosphere between us was weird. We hadn't had a proper conversation since that day he joked about us being soulmates. Then there was the party… we didn't talk, but his expression said volumes. He didn't come to school for three days, leaving me thinking about him constantly. I wanted to apologize to him. Explain myself. I wasn't too sure why and for what, but I did.

Now that he was standing in front of me, looking all awkward and sheepish, I didn't know what to do.

I just said, "I didn't think you were going to show up."

He transformed his pretty boy face into a confident smolder and said, "I couldn't deny you of my devilishly handsome face for too long. I know you missed me."

With that, the awkward atmosphere disappeared, and I let out a little snort. Missed him? Yeah right.

"Let's just get inside and get this over with." I walked into the building, leaving him to follow me.

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><p>We were all seated in a circle, facing inward. Each of us had an easel with a medium sized canvas and a little stand next to us with all our materials. This was just a sort of introductory class so that the teacher could assess our art abilities and place us in the categories; beginner, intermediate, or advanced. In the middle of the circle, there was a vase with very simple patterns. The teacher instructed us to recreate the vase on our canvases and that we only had an hour to do so.<p>

I had been dabbling in various forms of art all of my life, so I was pretty confident that I could make it into the advanced section of the class. I worked away at my painting with a solid amount of effort. I stole a few glances at Blake during the hour, surprised to find him concentrating hard. Then again, he probably needed to. A jock vampire doesn't normally go hand in hand with professional artist.

I finished my painting just as the hour was up and the teacher began going around the circle to assess everyone. I looked at my work proudly. I had never taken a single art lesson in my life, but I was no rookie. I smiled when the teacher came around to assess my painting.

"Hmm…" She narrowed her eyes and held her chin.

"Solid drawing skills…"

I nodded, unable to hide my grin.

She pushed her glasses up her nose. "But you need to work on your coloring. It's not very accurate."

My grin faded immediately. What? My coloring was impeccable! It looked exactly like the vase in the middle of the circle!

"Eh… I think I can put you in advanced. You're going to have to keep up." With that, she moved on to the next student.

My jaw dropped. Keep up? I could do more than keep up! My painting was good! I only had an hour to do it, obviously it wouldn't be perfect. What a hard ass.

I was slightly worried for Blake when she approached his painting. If I could barely make it into advanced, the poor guy was probably going to sit in beginners. When the teacher let out a loud gasp, I began to worry for him seriously.

How bad could it be? I thought.

Imagine my astonishment when she turned the easel around for all of us to see and said, "_this _is what a good painting looks like!"

She was right. Blake's artwork was remarkable. He didn't seem to use many colors, but they were still incredibly vivid. They looked etched into the canvas like a photograph, only somehow a little better. No wonder the teacher told me I needed work on my coloring.

I was still sitting in a wondered state when everyone was assessed, and we were dismissed. Blake made his way to the door and I stood up to join him.

While we were walking I said, "where did you learn to paint like that?"

"My mom's an artist and she's been teaching me since I was a kid."

We both halted to a stop when we reached outside the building. I took a step away from Blake to study him. Up until then I couldn't imagine that he could possibly have any other skill or talent than being a popular jock. Now I didn't know what to expect. I was really impressed, but also a bit scared; scared of what else he might be hiding from the world. Maybe there was more to Blake than I thought.

"It was really, _really_ good," I said.

Blake looked over at me and then gave me a smile. It wasn't one of his 'Blake Effect' smiles, or his cocky grins, or anything of that sort. It was a genuine and happy smile. I was a little taken aback by this and couldn't help but give him one in return.

"Thanks," he said.

We stood there for a few moments just looking at each other and smiling. It was starting to get a little strange so I decided to stop and say goodbye. He beat me to it with something else.

"You want to go grab some dinner at the burger shack?" he asked.

Boy, he was full of surprises that day.

"You know, just because we're doing this Out of the Circle thing, doesn't mean we have to act like we're friends. I won't give you a bad assessment," I said.

Blake scrunched up his eyebrows and frowned. "Geez, I was just trying to be nice Rosewood. Whatever."

Did I just hurt his feelings? I didn't understand. He gets all cocky and full of himself in one moment, then he's all nice and friendly the next. What was his deal? It was so infuriating. Sometimes I just wanted to slap him so hard that his face would land on Jupiter. Other times I could almost hug him for being so considerate… Like that time he drove me home after tennis.

Blake was about to walk off when I sighed said, "wait!"

He stopped.

"I'm sorry. Okay, let's go to the burger shack."

We kept quiet during our walk to the fast food restaurant all the way until we had our orders and sat down at a booth. He had a large burger set with curly fries. He must have been one of the few vampires who enjoyed food despite the fact that he didn't need to consume anything but blood. He started munching away at his burger happily.

I also ate my burger and we still didn't talk. I was getting full when a thought skidded across my mind.

What are we even doing here?

Then it dawned on me. This was some sort of new and cruel prank Blake was pulling to get back at me for Carla and the party. He probably put something in my food.

"Blake," I called, setting down what little was left of my probably poisoned burger.

He stopped stuffing his face and looked up at me with his mouth full, just chewing. "Hmm?"

He looked sort of cute with his face stuffed and eyes wide, just enjoying his meal. I snapped myself out of those thoughts.

"If this is some sort of prank, just tell me now, I really don't want to deal with this today," I said in my most 'I'm tired, don't mess with me' tone.

Blake swallowed the food and picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth. My eyes drooped to his lips, distracting me for a few seconds. I dragged myself back to reality and looked away, hoping that Blake didn't notice.

Blake smirked. "Don't wet your pants, _princess. _Just enjoy the view."

He gave me a small wink and for some reason that sent me over the edge. Not in a good way.

"What is your problem?" I said with my voice raise a little too high.

I didn't let him answer.

"You're always being so hot and cold all the time! You dump worms on me one day and then act like you care the next. What is wrong with you?" I didn't tone down the volume and people were starting to look.

Blake was a bit concerned and the smirk was now nowhere to be seen. "Addie-"

"-Then you don't show up in school and leave me thinking about you all the time."

"You think about me?"

"What?"

Oh crap, I did _not_ just say that.

"You just said you think about me all the time."

"No. I said I think… about why you aren't in school because… you don't get sick."

Nice try, Addie. I thought to myself.

"I told you, it was family stuff."

This was my chance to change the subject and I took it. "What family stuff?"

Blake looked away. "I don't want to talk about it."

I wasn't going to let the conversation steer back to me thinking about him, so I persisted. "Why not? What kind of stuff is it?"

"Just drop it okay, Addie?"

Woah, he called me Addie. This might actually be something serious. Now my curiosity was piqued.

"Is it bad?"

"No…" Blake hesitated a little.

"Yes… No, just leave it alone."

I didn't feel like leaving it alone.

"What is it?"

Blake slammed a fist at the table which made me jump back.

"Fine!" He said.

"I'm getting married."


	13. Chapter 13: Yes, Married

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p>Okay, sorry this chapter is so short. I just felt that it would be too long if I added anymore scenes.<p>

Also, I had planned to update this story every single day, but I will not be able to do that this weekend.

I promise I will be back by Monday or (hopefully) Sunday night.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Thank you to all that review, it helps me when I write (:

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><p><span>Chapter 13<span>

"Married." The word seemed foreign as it rolled off my tongue.

_That_ was the reason he didn't come to school.

"You're engaged?" I asked with shock evident in my voice. Something in his expression – and the fact he almost broke the table – told me that he was serious.

Blake let out a sigh. "Yes, I'm engaged."

Right. So he was engaged. That was a very interesting reason for missing school. I didn't really understand though. Did vampires have to do some sort of weird pre-engagement prepping? Maybe they had to go on some quest and find a mystical diamond for the ring. Yeah, probably something odd like that.

Wait a minute…

"Who are you getting engaged to?" I was surprised at myself for not asking this first.

Blake crossed his arms and looked down at the three fries left on his tray. "Carla," he muttered softly.

Oh.

The lack of enthusiasm in his reply had me wondering. I didn't expect him to be over the moon and jumping for the stars but I thought he would at least seem happy - because it was Carla. Of course it was Carla. He was getting married to his girlfriend. That made a lot of sense. Actually no, that didn't really make a lot of sense at all. They were just teenagers and they were only in high school.

With that thought process in mind, I asked, "why?"

Blake stood up and lifted his tray off the table. "You done?"

"Huh?"

His head motioned down to my food.

Right, the burger that I thought was poisoned. I nodded and Blake picked up my tray. He walked over to disposal counter and sorted everything through like a Good Samaritan. When he was done he made a gesture for me to join him as he headed out the restaurant. I caught up with him outside, on the route back to the art school. I knew that he was heading back there because it was where he left his car. It was also on the way to my house. There weren't a lot of people around, being a semi-suburban area. It was also starting to get a little late. Our surroundings were beginning to glow from the eerie twilight. I clasped my hands in front of me and strode beside Blake, cautiously leaving at least three feet of distance between us. He looked straight ahead at the path and walked quickly.

I cocked my head at him. "Are you going to tell me why?"

It wasn't really any of my business – I knew that. But our conversation had made it too far to back out with a full explanation. Plus, it wasn't every day that one's archenemy, school project partner, and _sort of_ friend got engaged – at least not in California.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope."

He shoved his hands in his pocket and shrugged. "Okay, I'll tell you."

He slowed his paced and looked up at the fading sky as he explained. "My parents and Carla's parents had been discussing this for a while. They're gearing up for the future. Apparently there might be some tough times ahead."

Tough times… Did he mean the war? I didn't say anything, because I wasn't supposed to know anything. I just let him continue.

Blake's head dropped back down to the path beneath us. "Carla being a Redfern, and my family being of high standing amongst the lamia, they thought it would be good for us to merge our households into one. That's about it."

Perhaps there really was some kind of crazy war brewing up – especially if the Redferns thought they needed to merge households via a marriage of teenagers. I still didn't understand one thing.

"Why don't you seem very happy about it?"

"Well, after what happened with you and Carla at Skye's party, we got into this fight. We've actually been fighting a lot lately. Then, things escalated at the party… and I ended things with her. We broke up."

Wow, they broke up? Well, they always did have the whole on-again, off-again thing. I guess it must have been upsetting that the on-again wasn't his choice this time. And the fact that it was now permanent.

"That sucks."

He put on a bleak smile. "Yeah. That's the real reason I haven't been going to school. I hadn't talked to Carla since the party, and then my parents sprang the news on me. It was final and not up for discussion. Just like every other important decision in my life. I was pissed, so I went off to the family lodge. They left me alone because they knew I'd have to come back eventually."

His words hung heavy in the air. I was wrong. It wasn't some silly quest for a mystical diamond ring. It was an escape from deep rooted family issues of someone who was more complicated than just 'a popular jock'. I was starting to see that now. As unexpected as it was, this whole Out of the Circle thing might have actually been working. I had to admit, it was strange to have this moment of clarity with Blake, where we could talk to one another like normal people. No bad-mouthing or backstabbing. No hidden agenda. It was just an honest conversation.

"Are you back now?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you come back so soon?" I knew I had been bugging him about taking off from school for three days, but knowing his situation now… If it were me, I would have stayed at the lodge for at least a few more days.

"I couldn't let you wait for my pretty face and have you disappointed," he said.

Of course he had to pull that gem out of his ass. I didn't believe that the moment of clarity between us would last too long.

Still, I looked over to get a glimpse of his face, but I could barely make out his features. It was dark now. The twilight was over and the stars were beginning to show. We came to a stop as we reached the art school. It was now closed and empty.

I walked in front of Blake and met his eyes. It wasn't clear, but I could see it; hidden amid that smug and arrogant expression, there was sadness. Then I felt sorry for him. Not in a pathetic and pitying way, but in a sincere and empathic way. Strangely enough, I could almost feel his pain.

"Thanks for telling me. I mean, I know I didn't give you much of a choice. Still… Just-" With the craziest impulse I'd had in a while, I moved in to hug him.

The moment I had awkwardly wrapped my arms around his neck, I expected him to shove me off and scream at me. Instead, I felt him slip an arm at the back of my waist, pulling me close. I had to tiptoe when our chests closed against each other, because of our height difference. His grip was strong as he held me steadily. My eyes slid closed as I burrowed my face in his neck, perhaps out of instinct or habit. My body relaxed as I breathed in the scent of his peppermint shampoo.

This time, there was no painful shock or blinding colors that seemed to wound me. A gentle warmth soothed over my body, enveloping me gently. It was absolute serenity.

The hug seemed to go on for an eternity and I didn't want it to end, but I knew it had to. I regretted it as soon as I broke off from him, because suddenly it felt like I didn't hug him enough. It barely felt like I hugged him at all.

I cleared my throat as I took a step away from him. I couldn't bring myself to look at his face.

"I'm going to go home now," I said breathily.

It was a moment before he said, "do you want me to drive you home? It's late."

A drive with him alone in his car – the idea scared me. I felt like I couldn't think straight at the moment. My mind was racing but I had enough focus to gather myself and say, "no, my house is a two minute walk from here. I'll be fine. I've walked this path a million times at later hours than this."

Blake didn't persist. "Okay," he said.

Still refusing to meet his gaze, I said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay."

I walked away with his the sound of his voice lingering in my ears. I didn't look back. When I put enough distance between us, my mind calmed down. Now there was only one thought left in my head.

What the hell just happened?


	14. Chapter 14: Dark Clouds

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

* * *

><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p>Hey ya'll! So I was busy with some family stuff, but I managed to finish writing this chapter a little earlier than I predicted I would be done. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you again for the reviews! The more insights you guys give me, the more I feel like I can write this story confidently. Love you all!<p>

xx

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><p><span>Chapter 14<span>

The Thursday morning sky reflected how I felt internally; dull and gloomy. Dark clouds had formed over where the sun should have risen. It seemed like a storm was coming and it wasn't going to be pretty. I wasn't very sure why I was feeling the way I was, but I knew that it was not going to fade anytime soon. Even the scent of dew and fresh grass seemed bitter. My spirits lifted slightly when Belle drove in to pick me up for school, like she did every day. I could always count on Belle. She never missed a single morning.

"Well, don't you look like a ray of sunshine," Belle said, in a friendly tone of mockery, as I got in her trusty blue convertible. The radio was blasting some top forty hits.

I strapped in my seat-belt and looked over at my best friend. "I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something. I have a bad feeling about today."

Belle reached over to turn down the music and looked up the windshield. "Well, judging by those clouds up there, I'd say we all have a bad feeling. Or maybe you're having one of those witch-y prediction things we sometimes have."

"Hmm," I muttered in a non-committal manner. Witch-y prediction things… I hoped not. I didn't really want to think about that, so I brought up something that has been plaguing my mind since it happened.

"Blake showed up for the art class yesterday."

Belle was concentrated on the road, but turned to me for a flash of a second with an eyebrow raised. "He did, huh? What did preppy-blond-blue-eyes have to say about missing school?"

I giggled. He did look super preppy in the outfit he was wearing.

"You'll never guess."

"He got arrested!" Belle suggested almost instantly.

"Nope. I'm telling you, you will never guess."

Belle smacked the steering wheel lightly, in protest. "Okay fine, tell me."

"He got engaged to Carla."

The car suddenly jerked as Belle slammed on the brakes. I was pushed by the inertia but my seat-belt pulled me back hard and held me in place. I yelped at this, but Belle didn't care. She just looked over at me with her jaw dropped to the Earth's core. I thanked the stars that we were not on a large and busy road.

"No way! That's crazy!"

I nodded my head in agreement. "But then I did some even crazier."

Belle's eyes widened as she waited expectantly.

"Apparently they broke up. Then he went on this tangent about how he has all these family problems and he looked all sad…" I looked away from Belle. "So I kind of hugged him."

I closed my eyes and held my breath for Belle's fury, but none came. When I opened my eyes to sneak a peek at her face, she smiled. Then she threw her head back and started laughing.

When she was done, she turned her attention back to me. "You hugged Vampire Ken because he was sad. Oh my, Addie, _how can you hug a man who is betrothed_?" The sarcasm in her voice was evident. "There are crazier things in the world Addie. It's not like you kissed him."

With that, she changed the gears in the car and we were cruising forward on the road once again. I sat there for a moment and took in what she said.

Kissing? Why would she even bring that up?

"Hugging is crazy enough! Belle, I tried to comfort _the enemy_! Kissing is a totally different world! Don't put me, Blake, and kissing in the same imaginary scenario!"

Belle let out another laugh. "Geez Addie, calm down. Anyway, speaking of kissing and doing crazy things… I have a confession to make." She sneaked a glance in my direction, looking like a puppy about to be punished.

I looked on with excitement. "Spill."

"Yesterday, after ball dancing class, Gaia and I were heading back. We had a really great time and he totally impressed me with his smooth dancing skills. And then a little later, Gaia and I… kinda… sorta… maybe… made out… a little."

Well that caught me off guard. I was a little stunned so I didn't say anything, making Belle add on to her little confession. "Okay, maybe a lot."

I still didn't say anything –but Belle making out with Gaia Lark after ball dancing? That was gold.

"Addie, are you alive?"

I gave Belle a knowing grin and said, "aw, Belle, you made out with Gaia Lark like a slutty slutty track girl."

She chuckled in relief to my response. "Yes! Yes I did." Belle reached over for the button that pulled the roof down on her car.

"What are you doing? It's going to rain soon!" I panicked as the roof folded away, exposing us to the dark clouds above.

"It's not raining yet! Addie, hold the wheel."

"What?"

Then she let go of the steering wheel and I hurriedly grabbed at it from the passenger seat, keeping it in place so that we didn't crash to our early deaths. Belle unbuckled herself and stood up, opening her arms out widely at the wind. "I made out with Gaia Lark like a slutty slutty track girl!" She screamed the words at the top of her lungs like the lunatic of a person that she was. This was my best friend. I couldn't help but admire her spirit.

When she was done risking our lives, she sat back down and strapped up. We arrived into school shortly after, and Belle parked us in a decent spot and pulled the roof back into place.

So Belle made out with Gaia Lark – the witch-werewolf hybrid son of our cougar of a guidance counselor. What an exciting turn of events. Wait, if Belle made out with Gaia… Was she over Skye? I didn't know for sure but I saw the opportunity, and I had to take it.

We got out of the car and I closed the door slowly, holding on to the door handle. "If we're making confessions… I have one too."

Belle locked the car with her remote, and looked over at me. "What is it?"

I bit my lower lip as I readied myself to reveal almost a week worth of lies and cover ups. I told her everything. I told her about what happened at the party – how I lied about throwing up and how I got the jacket, and that Skye actually confessed that he 'fancied' me. I told her about him calling me up after to apologize, and I told her about the picnic. I let everything go at her like a machine gun, and when I was done, I apologized profusely.

Belle was silent for a moment and I couldn't read what might have been beyond her blank expression. She was still standing on the other side of the car. My heart slowed to a stop when that expression changed and something horrible took form in her face. It wasn't anger, it wasn't fury, and it wasn't jealousy… No, it was none of those things. Those things, I could have dealt with. Those things, I was prepared for. But I wasn't so lucky. That look on her face – it was hurt.

"You lied to me?"

Her words were cold and shivering. They hit me like a sucker punch straight into my gut. I was about to apologize again but was forced silent by the school bell ringing to indicate our first classes were about to begin.

"I'm going to go to class," Belle said immediately after the ringing was over. She started heading toward the main school building. I rushed over to her, preventing her from walking any further. "Belle-"

She shoved herself away and just muttered, "I have to go to class."

I stood there, watching her go, as the feeling in the pit of my stomach – that had been present since I woke up that morning – grew considerably darker.

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><p>When recess rolled around, Belle didn't come to find me like she usually did. I spent all of the morning classes being absolutely distracted by the fight that had broken out between us. I looked out at the windows, seeing that the sky was still dark, but the rain did not yet come. I couldn't pay attention to anything the teachers were saying, and I was called out a few times for it. Luckily, I managed to get away without a detention. I didn't know what to do. The conversation had taken a turn that I wasn't expecting. Belle and I never fought. We simply never disagreed on anything, and we never had any falling outs. I never had to deal with a Belle that was mad at me before. But I never lied to her before either.<p>

What made everything so much more awful was that I didn't have another girlfriend I could turn to for help. Belle was my only friend in the entire school, and I managed to screw that up. Perhaps I could consider Skye a friend now, but I couldn't go and talk to him about this. The whole thing was about him. I had already spent a good majority of the week feeling trapped by the loneliness of lying to my only friend. Now I was facing the consequences of my stupid actions, and I felt considerably worse.

I felt so bad that I condoned the thought that came into my head next. I wanted to go look for Blake. After that conversation we had, while we were walking back from the burger shack, I felt like I had found a friend in Blake. I remembered the hug that I had with him. It was so comforting.

I went to the cafeteria first, hoping to find him there. When I didn't, I thought to try and find him in the lounge, so I walked back out to the halls. They were empty, as everyone was already in the cafeteria, the lounge, or perhaps out on the field. I did a quick scan of the lounge when I arrived but Blake was nowhere to be seen. I got out and was about to turn on the corner that led to the field when I heard Carla's voice. She was with Blake. I stopped in my tracks when I realized that they were having some kind of serious conversation. I neared myself to the corner to hear them better.

"So my parents gave me this," I heard Blake say. I took a peek at them to see what '_this_' was. It was a ring. He held it up and showed it to her. It had a large red rock in the middle of it – a blood diamond. It was one of the rarest diamonds that were usually only held by the old and prestigious families of the Night World. It must have been a family heirloom. He was giving her the ring. This was a private moment.

"It's beautiful," Carla uttered.

I decided that I eavesdropped beyond what should have been adequate, so I turned around and went back to the lounge. I noticed that Belle was there, sitting and talking with Jesse at one of the café tables. She caught sight of me and looked away, so I did the same. That was when I observed that there was something different about the lounge. Right in the middle, visible to all corners of the room, there was a little stage that was set up with what looked like a rock band.

Blake and Carla entered the room and I saw the ring wrapped proudly around her finger. Just as they walked in, Skye showed up on the stage and took to the mic. He had an electric guitar strapped around him, looking absolutely like a superstar.

Much to my astonishment, he scanned the crowd and locked his eyes on mine when he found me. "Addie," he said. His voice was loud and clear throughout the room. "I wrote this song for you, I hope you like it."

Skye picked up his guitar and played a chord to signal the other boys in the band. An upbeat melody started to fill the up the lounge. The students began to nod their heads and tap their feet to the rhythm. Skye started singing and his voice was amazing. It was perfect for the whole schoolboy rock vibe that he was giving out. The tune was catchy and I found myself falling into the song. Skye looked right at me throughout the whole thing. I was just absentmindedly enjoying the music when it ended.

"Addie Rosewood." Skye flashed me a crooked grin. "Will you go out with me?"

There were roars and claps from around the room. People cheered enthusiastically. When they were done, they all looked at me with eagerness in their eyes. Before I knew it, everyone was on their toes, waiting.

I hadn't fully grasped the question that Skye threw my way. Did he just ask me out on a date? Was he asking me to be his girlfriend?

That was when I remembered Belle, and my eyes scanned over to find her. She was looking right at me. She didn't have the same eagerness plastered on her, like everyone else around us. She just looked grim. Then I looked over to Blake and Carla. If I didn't know any better, I would have said that Blake seemed disappointed somehow. But I did know better. And Carla? Well, Carla just looked pissed – like she always did.

I turned back at Skye, who was standing patiently for my answer.

"I-" I started to say, but I was interrupted – for the second time that day – by the school bell.

Everyone may have been itching to know my answer, but they dispersed, more afraid of the wrath of our teachers if they were late. Especially because they all seemed to know that I was going to take my time with what I had to say. Belle was one of the many that rushed out of the room.

Skye jumped off the stage and came over to where I was standing. "Do you have an answer for me?"

My heart started racing – the way it did right before I walked into the study hall on the day of an important exam. This day was all too much to handle. I knew I had to answer quickly to not risk the both of us being late for class as well. But I didn't have anything in me to tell him.

"Can you give me some time to think about it?" I said.

Skye's face fell for an instant, but he quickly recovered. "Sure."

I chewed on my lower lip and awkwardly placed out a hand to touch his arm. "Thanks," I said with a weak smile.

"I'll see you later," he said.

"Yeah, see you later."

* * *

><p>From the first day Belle got her car – shortly after her sixteenth birthday – we had been going back and forth from school together every single day, without fail. It was a routine and a tradition. For the first time in forever, that tradition was broken.<p>

Belle, along with everybody else, was avoiding me like the plague. Sure, the students now had more than enough reason to gossip about me, effectively putting me on the social radar. But, I was still an outcast. Nobody bothered to come up to me and ask me about what was happening in my life. They all just stood around with themselves and talked loudly about it.

It was time to go home and I didn't have my bike with me. Up until Belle got her car, we used to take the bus. I didn't want to take the bus. It was just filled with more petty gossipers than a Bridge game with middle aged women. So I decided to take the forty minute walk back.

The sky was still shadowy but it hadn't rained up until then, so I figured it would stay that way until I reached home. That didn't happen.

I was halfway back to my house, drowning myself in the bitter thoughts of my fight with Belle, when the first droplet landed on my nose. It wasn't long before the water was pouring heavily, and my view ahead was blurry. I let out an agonizing groan as I accepted the awfulness of this day. I sighed, giving in, and ran the rest of the way home.


	15. Chapter 15: The Letter

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p>Oh gosh you guys, thank you for those reviews! I loved the whole dissecting of my story :p<p>

And to lollipop addict; for their ship name, I was thinking maybe we could do their last names. Like 'Tarrawood' (Tarragon and Rosewood) or something. Haha, cos Bladdie kinda sounds like bladder :p.

Welp, at least its not Peenis (I know they're more properly called Everlark, but Peenis is pretty funny. Oh it's The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta btw).

I apologize in advance, and warn you that there is no Tarrawood (or whatever cool name might be better) in this chapter, but don't worry, you'll get it in the next. Also, there'll be a lot more Blake and Addie up ahead very soon.

Enjoy!

xx

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><p><span>Chapter 15<span>

My feet sloshed the water as I dragged myself up the front porch. I was soaking wet and my bag was dripping. I had really hoped that my books didn't get too damaged. I was going to need them for all that important homework I was going to have to do – while I ignored the problems in my life. If there was one thing I was good at, it was homework.

My dad came up to me as soon as I got in the house, asking what I was doing in the rain. The first thing I did was run into his arms. He hugged me, despite the fact that I was drenched. Soon enough, I started to cry.

"Hey, it's okay, sweetheart. It's okay," he cooed as he patted me gently on the back. He let me bawl for a few minutes until I gained a little composure.

I leaned away from him and looked up at his face. "Sorry dad, now your clothes are all wet."

He gave me a warm smile. "Don't worry about that right now. Why don't you go take a shower, and I'll go change. Meet me back in the family room, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded and scurried off.

When I was done cleaning myself up, I headed down to the family room. My hair was still damp but I countered that with a towel around my shoulders. I had put on my favorite fluffy pajamas because I wanted to be comfortable. My dad was changed into his nighties as well, and he had prepared two mugs of hot chocolate, and he placed them on the coffee table. He was seated on the couch, waiting for me to join him.

I slumped myself next to him. I was so exhausted. The events in school drained me, the run home tired me out, and the cry I had in my dad's arms sapped the last bit of energy from my body. I picked up my hot chocolate, and took a small sip. It should have been amazing, but all I tasted was bitterness. I set it back on the table, hating the fact that I couldn't enjoy my favorite drink.

I was thankful that my dad wasn't facing the same predicament with his beverage. "What happened?" he asked, after swallowing a mouthful of hot chocolate.

I recounted my entire day to him as he listened intently. I told him about the bad feeling I had when I woke up. I told him about the fight with Belle. I told him about Blake giving Carla a ring. I told him about Skye – very publicly – asking me out. I didn't leave out a single detail. My dad had always asked me to be thorough with him, because he was genuinely interested. It was a wonderful feeling to know that he wouldn't be bored of me if I took my time. I might have been condemned socially by my peers, but I was blessed in my family – even though I only had my father now.

"What do I do?" I asked, after I was done explaining everything. I was refraining myself from breaking down and crying again. It was a challenge, but I managed to hold myself together.

My dad had his 'serious-thinking' face on. He took a long swig of his drink, and got some of it on his moustache – which he then wiped off with the back of his hand. "Well, for starters, you can go apologize to Belle."

I gave him a look. "But I told you, I tried. She hates me now. There's no point," I muttered.

Much to my chagrin, he chuckled. "She doesn't hate you. She just needs some time to cool off. Give it another day or two, and then try talking to her. She's your best friend. You both haven't left each other's sides since the day you met. Trust me when I say; that counts for something."

I puffed a strand of hair away from my face and said, "Okay, fine."

I leaned into the back cushion of the couch, letting the softness carry the full weight of my body. "Now what do I do about Skye? I'm not sure how I feel about him."

My dad gulped down the last of his chocolate before he answered me. He placed the empty mug next to mine and said, "I think you know exactly how you feel about Skye. You just don't want to admit it."

I frowned. "What makes you say that?"

He placed his hand on my forearm firmly and said, "Because you're afraid of the alternative."

My eyebrows scrunched automatically at his words. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'll let you figure that out for yourself."

I sighed.

Not this again, I thought.

I knew there was no use fighting him, though. He was not going to explain any further. He never did when he said something like that. Plus, I just didn't have the strength to argue. I gave in and said, "Okay."

For the long and dreary day that I had, those were the only two questions I needed to ask him. I vented to my repletion when I detailed my day. So with the best smile I could muster, I said, "Thanks dad."

I reached over to hug him. He hugged me back tightly. Shortly after, our doorbell rang. My dad sprang up from the couch. "The pizza is here," he announced.

I lit up immediately.

Pizza! The sound of it jump-started something inside of me. He must have ordered it while I was in the shower. How sneaky. He always knew how to cheer me up.

He paid and tipped the delivery guy, then brought the pizza over to the family room. I opened up the box, expecting to see some pepperoni goodness. I was not disappointed.

As we enjoyed our greasy meal, I began to cheer up slightly.

"How are you feeling?" My dad asked. He was on his third slice, and I was on my second.

"Better. Pizza always makes everything better," I said.

He nodded in agreement, and then we finished the rest of our extra-large pepperoni pizza. I patted my belly contently after I was done with my last slice. After we both cleaned up, my dad decided to throw another surprise my way. He handed me an envelope that looked discolored by age. It wasn't sealed to send away as mail, but just folded closed.

"What is this?" I asked as I studied at it in my hands.

"It's a letter from your mother," he revealed.

My breathing stopped short. "What?" I gasped, subconsciously gripping the envelope tighter.

"She wrote it a few days after you were born. It was made in case anything happened to her," he started. "I was supposed to give it to you on your eighteenth birthday, but since it's coming up next month anyway… I thought I might give it to you now."

I didn't know what to say. All this time there was a letter waiting for me to read on my eighteenth birthday. There was a part of my mother that I could discover, so many years after she was gone. It was overwhelming and wonderful at the same time.

I gave my father a small nod and opened up the envelope. I took a deep breath before settling my eyes on the first words.

_My Sweet Adeline,_

_Happy eighteenth birthday! I hope you are having a wonderful time with all of your friends._

_If you are reading this letter, it means that I am not around anymore. For that, I am sorry. I hope that I will at least make it far enough for you to remember me. Even if you do not, know that I love you very much, and I will always be watching over you. I know that you will grow up to be an amazing woman that I will be proud of._

_I hope you receive many gifts on this day, as I will have one to add to that pile. On the floor of our basement, there is a vault. It is locked by unconventional means, as only a fully realized telekinetic can open it. It's been charmed, and it cannot be opened by force. I know that you were born only a few days ago, but I sense great power in you. I would trust that by now – if I had not already trained you myself – you would have gone to the Night World Academy, and are powerful enough unlock the vault._

_Inside, you will find an amulet that you might have seen me wear while you were growing up. I have enchanted it to return to the vault, if I ever meet my demise. Keep it with you at all times, as it will protect you._

_Have a wonderful birthday._

_I love you with all my heart,  
>Your Mother<em>

A hot tear rolled down my cheek as I finished the letter. "I'm going to go down to the basement," I said to my dad. He softened his eyes and nodded.

I ran down the stairs to reach the dark room below my house. I fiddled for the light switch, and with a click, the room was illuminated. I looked down on the floor to see the carpet that has always been there. I rolled it over, and it revealed the wooden floor below. There was a square in the middle, with a flap hanging that I bent over to open. Inside, there was a metal vault but it did not have a handle on its door. I straightened myself up and inspected it. There was definitely no way I was getting it opened without telekinesis. I was just afraid I wouldn't be strong enough.

I positioned my hands over the vault and closed my eyes to concentrate. I wrapped my powers around it, feeling every inch in my mind. I could sense there was something small inside. Soon enough, I was able to identify which parts I had to focus on to get it open. I took in a heavy breath as I readied myself.

Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate.

I repeated those words in my head as I felt my energy flow to pull the door open.

Nothing happened.

I let out a cry of frustration. "Come on!" I shouted.

I knew I had to get myself angry in order for this to work. I grudgingly channeled all my problems, and let it fuel my power. Slowly, I felt it build up. The vault creaked as the door began to budge.

But, it still wasn't enough. I had to let my anger turn into rage. I remembered that the last time I did that – thinking of my mother's death had been enough. This time, I thought about what Carla said to me during Skye's party.

The vault creaked louder, and the door was beginning to open. I felt a wetness streak down from my nose, and I tasted my blood as it singed my tongue. I was almost there. I pushed myself with everything I had until finally, the door popped open. I collapsed into the ground immediately.

I did it, I thought.

After letting myself regain some strength, I wiped the blood away and looked inside.

Just as my mother had said, there was an amulet. It was sitting on top of a red cushion. I picked it up, examined it, and was marveled by its beauty. It was a white gold necklace with a garnet pendant hanging at the bottom.

I did remember it from my childhood. My mother wore this amulet everywhere, and I had always admired it. I wondered where it went after she died, but I didn't ask any questions.

I put it over my head, and let it hang around my neck. I could feel its power bloom inside me. She said it would protect me. I wondered what from.

I went back upstairs to show it to my dad. He was glad that I was able to open the vault. Then I went back to my room to get started on some homework. I had laid out my books to dry. Most of them were not heavily damaged by the rain. After I did enough work, I got ready for bed.

I clutched the amulet tightly as I drifted off into deep sleep.

* * *

><p>I was in a room. No, it was bigger than a room. Everything was dark and blurry, but I could make out a little bit of the details. I was inside a large metal structure, held together by a wooden frame. There were broken crates around me, but it was mostly empty. I was in what seemed like a warehouse.<p>

I looked around more carefully, but my eyes were fighting to stay open. I managed to see someone in the middle of the warehouse… It was a woman. I couldn't make out her face but I could see that she was crying.

Then the earth started to rumble. I lost my balance and fell into the ground. The warehouse was shaking, and the structure was beginning to collapse.

When I looked up, the woman was floating in the middle of the room. Her hair was splayed in all directions, and she had her arms stretched open. She was angry. Bits and pieces of the warehouse started crashing apart, and I was beginning to fear for my life. I realized that the woman was doing this.

I tried to scream at her, asking her to stop, but I couldn't find my voice. Somehow, she must have felt that I was reaching out to her, and turned to me. That was when I caught the smallest glimpse of her features.

"Mom?" I whispered.

I couldn't really recognize her. This woman was not the person I remembered. She looked cold and unforgiving. She had murder in her eyes, and I was afraid of her.

Before the woman could say anything in response, my eyes snapped open, and I was in my bedroom. The alarm clock was blaring. I knew it was time for school.


	16. Chapter 16: Dreams

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p><span>Chapter 16<span>

It was Friday morning, and time for me to face another day of school. I had tucked my amulet safely in my shirt, and I was riding my bike to get there. As I had expected, Belle did not come to pick me up. I opted out of taking the bus for the same reason I didn't take it home the day before. This time, I had packed a raincoat and an umbrella, just in case.

I reached school, unpleasantly sweaty and unhappy. It was going to be another awful day. I pulled along my morning classes with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. I focused on work and working hard. When I lost myself in my studies, the school day seemed to go pretty swimmingly. But then it was time for lunch.

I was brought back to the days of freshman year, a little after I had defended Da Vinci's honor, and was stumped by my childhood best friend. I remembered passing by Carla in the cafeteria as she pretended that I was invisible. With each table after, everyone gave me uninviting looks. I took my tray to the end of the hall and sat by the trash cans alone. Nobody joined me.

A few days later, that changed, when Belle sat down and introduced herself. She was upbeat and extremely nonchalant, declaring that I was her new best friend. Now I went and screwed that up.

I avoided the lounge, suspecting that she would be there, probably with Jesse and her group of friends. My dad told me to give it a few more days, and I was going to respect that idea. I headed to the cafeteria. I got my food and pushed past all my snickering schoolmates. I sat down by myself, at the empty tables at the end of the hall, next to the trash cans. Alone.

Once again, nobody joined me. And this time, there was no Belle to come and save me.

* * *

><p>I waited for Blake during our study session at the same table from the week before. He spotted me, and sat himself down on the other side after setting his bag on the ground.<p>

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

We both just sat there for a few moments, looking at each other until it got awkward.

I cleared my throat. "What do you want to study today?" I asked. "I'm finished with all my assignments, and I'm guessing you're probably not… So you tell me, what'll it be?"

Blake leaned back against his chair. "Actually, I'm done with all my assignments too."

"What?" There was no way he finished everything. We had a lot of homework. I spent a lot of hours doing mine, and it left me very little free time. He _must_ have had something pending.

"You even finished yesterday's history project?"

Blake shrugged. "Yeah, I did it last night," He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Why are you so surprised?"

Why was I surprised? Well, to start off, he was Blake Tarragon. He was the school's superstar athlete. He was spotted constantly in bars and night clubs, seemingly having the time of his life. He wasn't exactly a sore sight either, so I assumed he spent a lot of time grooming himself near a mirror. If my life were Gossip Girl, he would be Serena Van Der Woodsen – while I would be early years Dan Humphrey, trying to stay out of all the problems of the rich upper-east-siders. I wanted to tell him all this, but instead I said, "I just didn't expect someone like you to be so vigilant with your schoolwork."

Blake raised a brow. "Someone like me huh?"

"Yeah, you know," I started. "You've got the whole 'I'm carefree and I don't care about school' jock-vibe going on." I motioned my hands around him.

"Right," He said. "You know, just because I play sports and I'm extremely good looking, doesn't mean I don't work hard in school. I'd say that you're holding a bit of a prejudice."

Oh.

Despite the self-ego boost that his statement reeked of, he did seemed offended that I thought he was a slacker. But what was I supposed to think? He spent the better of my years in high school taunting me. Carla, he, and the rest of their gang always shoved their apparent popularity in my face. He shouldn't have been surprised that I had formed a conclusion about his personality. Yet, I felt like I owed him some sort of apology.

"I'm sorry. I just assumed–"

"–Right, you assumed." He interrupted. "Look, whatever. Let's just get on with this. We can study for the English quiz coming up on Monday."

I guess I really had upset him. But English was a good idea. I hadn't prepared for that test yet.

"Okay."

"I'm going to go get us the books," he said, and then he got up and left.

He came back some minutes later with a big stack. He also somehow managed to get some chewing gum in his mouth. He handed me some of the books, and we divided reading sections where we would make a practice quiz for the other. We began our tasks immediately.

I opened up some pages and started drinking in the words as I determined what sort of questions I was going to form. I managed to think up three and wrote them down. I did many practice quizzes when I had the time, so I generally knew the kind of material that teachers drew from. I was proud of my three questions so far.

I wondered if Blake was having the same success that I was, so I glanced up discreetly at him. I observed him slowly and carefully. He had said I was holding a prejudice against him. That probably meant that he thought he had more to offer.

He had buried himself in his work, carefully reading and writing notes at the same time. He was remarkably fast and efficient. I thought back to last Friday, when we were studying Chemistry. He was working just as hard back then, despite being distracted by wanting to joke about being soulmates. He actually got most of his answers right. I was just too busy trying to ignore him to notice. This week, I was going to take my time to really look at him.

His hair was such a nice color in the library's lighting. Actually, regardless of the lighting, it always reminded me of the sun. I remembered back when I hugged him outside the art school. He smelled of cool peppermint, which was an odd yet strangely pleasant contrast to the warm tones of his locks. I noticed he kept his hair very clean, unlike many boys his age who let their heads turn into nests of grease and dandruff. I bet that Blake even took his time to condition. For a moment, I wanted to reach out and touch the back of his head to check. My hand twitched to move, but for obvious reasons, I motioned against it, and kept my hand still.

He was still chomping on his gum, and it was beginning to distract me. Each time he bit down, his jawline would be solidly defined from his neck. I couldn't peel my eyes away as it happened. Also, the chewing noises were quite loud. Louder than I suspected that the librarians would like, but nobody said anything.

I was so caught up in his jaw and all that gum chewing, that I didn't realize he was looking at me when he said, "you alright Addie?"

"Huh?" I snapped out of the little daze of my thoughts.

"You've just been sitting there, doing nothing for some time," He said. "Busy checking me out?" He added, with a knowing little grin. He didn't seem so butt-hurt anymore. At this point, I had become immune to his egotistical comments so I didn't even bother rolling my eyes.

I reflexively brought my watch to my view, and counted that I had lost about ten minutes. Crap. He caught me off guard, but I had to say something to explain what the hell I was doing looking at his face for a sixth of an hour.

"Your loud munching was disrupting… my quiz… forming," I said in the most irritated tone that I could. I peeped at his papers and saw that he had about fifteen questions already. I still only had three.

Blake gave out a little chortle. "Okay," he said, with hands raised. He got up, walked to the trash can, as I watched, and he spit the gum inside. When he turned around to come back, I quickly focused my attention back to my notes.

"Better?" he said, sitting back in his seat.

"Mhm. Thanks," I said, keeping my head down.

We continued working on our practice quizzes for ten more minutes. When we were both done, we exchanged them, answered them, exchanged them again, and graded them. Once again, Blake had most of his questions right. I handed his quiz back and he handed me mine. I got about three out of thirty questions wrong. We both discussed our mistakes, and corrected them. After we were done, Blake and I had put away all the library books. I checked my watch to see that we still had ten minutes left before the next class.

We didn't have enough time to start studying another subject. I battled my thoughts between walking out the library, and starting conversation with Blake. He beat me to it before I could decide on something.

"So did you give Skye an answer?" He asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know…" He shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. "About going out?"

Oh yeah. That. Skye and his little lounge serenade.

"What's it to you?" I said, narrowing my eyes. "Anyway, he is your best friend. He would have told you if I did."'

"Maybe. He didn't say anything yet. He never even told me he liked you."

Huh. That was actually surprising. If I were Skye, I would have told Blake. I think. Then again, I kept all those secrets from Belle about Skye. But my reason was because I knew Belle liked him. Blake was in a relationship with Carla. Why wouldn't Skye say anything?

"Okay." I said.

Still, why was Blake asking me? It wasn't really any of his business. Maybe it was payback for when I pushed him about why he didn't come to school.

"Why do you even care?" I asked.

"I don't," He said a little too quickly. "I'm just… curious."

"Well, I didn't give him an answer yet."

Blake folded his arms. "You're not going to say yes, are you?"

"Why? Do you think I'm not good enough for him?" Where did he get off thinking that I was going to reject Skye? Actually, why did he even think he had the right to an opinion about this?

"No." Blake frowned. "I never said that."

I was sure he was thinking it. He had to be. The only reason I would ever grill someone my best friend was interested in, would be to see if he were worthy of her. Blake obviously thought I didn't fit the bill. Well, he was not going to decide who I was going to date.

"Maybe I will say yes," I said vehemently.

"Okay, then." He raised his hands as if to rid himself of any responsibility regarding my answer. "It's up to you."

"Alright. Good," I said loudly.

"Good," Blake repeated, just as loudly. Nobody in this library seemed to care how much noise we were making.

I looked over to my watch, seeing that there was five minutes before the bell. It was a good time to start walking to my next class.

"I have to get to Spellcasting and Powers now," I said, standing up, and putting my backpack on.

Blake put on his bag as well, and said, "Fine, me too."

"Fine."

He had probably meant his vampire classes, but I didn't care enough to correct him.

We both walked out of the library without saying another word.

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><p>My favorite class of the day arrived; Spellcasting and Powers. No matter what else happened in school, I always enjoyed time that was dedicated to a bit of magic.<p>

Mrs. Stone scribbled the words 'Astral Projection' on the board. "All witches have the potential to perform astral projection," she said, as she faced the class. "But, it takes a very powerful witch to succeed."

She went on to explain that astral projection was an out of body experience. The witch's physical body was in one place, but they could bring their spirit out of their body to someplace else.

"Astral projection can happen willingly, if one tried hard enough. But, most only travel in their dreams."

Dreams. Why does this sound so familiar? I thought.

"In these dreams, not only can witches travel to another space, but they could also travel in time. When time is involved, they would only be able to spectate on their surroundings, and would not be able to interact with anyone or anything. Depending on where they arrive, the projection could be vivid and clear, or dark and murky."

I was racking my brain. There was something that I was trying to remember that was relevant with this entire lesson. I couldn't find it.

"Many have been able to travel to the past, but the future has always been a mystery. Only the most powerful of witches have been able to go into their futures on command. Most people do not even realize that they had visited their futures in a dream. Some say that it's the reason for déjà vu in our kind."

How interesting. I knew there was something I had to say about this. It was on the tip of my tongue.

"Mrs. Stone?" a girl from the back row raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever astral projected?" she asked.

Mrs. Stoned smiled and said, "Yes, I have. Not while conscious, as I have found it quite difficult. Believe me, I've tried. But, I have had some events from my past unfold to me in my dreams."

She turned her head to the window. "Normally, I project to events that have occurred around people I know. People I love."

The girl raised her hand again. Mrs. Stone motioned for her to ask her question. "Can you teach us?"

"Of course. But I have to prepare you, it only works if you are focused on where, what, or whom you want to project to. We might not able to do it right now, but I can prepare all of you for your dreams tonight."

She picked up a marker pen and started writing on the board. "For beginners, it is best to start with 'whom'. A personal connection with another person makes it easier."

She began to list things down. "It could be something as simple as a close friend," she started. "Something stronger could be... a significant other or it could be family."

Family.

Then it all hit me. My dream last night! Had I astral projected to the past? Perhaps I had seen a glimpse of my mother, and it was all real. It must have been so far back in the past, no wonder it was hard for me to see anything. But… if I couldn't interact with my surroundings, how did she see me when I reached out to her?

Then I thought back to all of the other dreams I may have had where I astral projected. I remembered one that I had recently about Blake and Carla. I saw them fight right before I arrived for tennis. I wondered if that dream was actually a reality. Perhaps. It would make a lot of sense. The atmosphere when I arrived for real was exactly the way it was in my dream.

I asked Mrs. Stone a couple of questions about the lesson, and she managed to answer them the best she could. Sadly, she told me that many things about astral projection were a mystery. I was satisfied enough. It was nice to have some strange dreams explained.

But now I was left wondering what happened in my mother's past.


	17. Chapter 17: Camp Coyote

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

* * *

><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 17<span>

After school, my dad surprised me by coming to pick me up. He installed the bike rack on his car, and his bike was already attached to it. He told me to get in while he fixed mine on the rack as well. I got into the passenger side and tossed my bag to the backseat.

After my dad was done, he got in the car and said, "Switch off all electronics and buckle up." He put the keys in the ignition and started the car. "We're going camping."

What a wonderful surprise, I thought.

I loved camping. There was something about it that gave me a certain kind of serenity. Perhaps it was because I was a witch. But, I've always enjoyed the great outdoors, ever since I was a little girl.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

He beamed at me and said, "It's a surprise."

Yes, my dad had always been fond of surprises – be it a birthday party, or a new computer, or tickets to the theater. I loved it when he would whisk me from my homework to see a new show that was in town for one night, and we would just have a great time.

We drove an hour out of town when I started to recognize our surroundings.

"We're going to Camp Coyote!" I announced excitedly.

My dad chuckled. "You smart girl. How did you figure that one out? We haven't gone to Camp Coyote in so many years."

It was true. It had been a little over ten years since we went to Camp Coyote, back when my mother was still alive. We went there every few months or so, and I had memorized the roads that took us there. Sometimes Carla's family would join us for a weekend. I remembered how strict Carla's mother was when she was around. Carla and I would try to the go swimming in the lake, and her mother would always say, "Don't go in the lake! It's probably filled with all sorts of dangerous things." My mother would counter with a, "Calm down, Eve. Camp Coyote is very clean. Don't worry."

It wasn't just the lake that Carla's mother would scold us about, though. She wouldn't let us climb the trees or run around in the woods. She would never let us sit near the fire and roast marshmallows. She also made us go to bed really early, even though we didn't have any school the next day. We were just kids anyway. Despite all of her restrictions, Carla and I had a lot of fun. I remembered how we would run in the tent and pretend to sleep, but we'd actually use our torch-lights under the covers and read each other scary stories. We would try to climb a tree as fast as possible when Eve wasn't looking, and Carla's vampire strength came in handy. We would giggle and play, and just have a lot of fun. I still missed that version of Carla very much. Our families stopped taking trips together after my mom died. Then in high school, it broke my heart the day Carla flipped her personality completely and I lost her too.

When we arrived, I rushed out of the car and took in the magnificent scent of nature. It had been over ten years, but nothing seemed to have changed in Camp Coyote. The sign was a little rustier and things were a little older, but everything seemed to be intact.

When my dad got out of the car, I ran over to him.

"Dad, this is so awesome!" I chirped.

He let out a little cough and said, "I'm glad you're happy."

When I let him go, he went to get both of our bikes. I turned over to the camp again, and let the memories flood into my mind. I closed my eyes, picturing the all the moments I had with my family.

"Mom used to prepare the best barbecues when we came here," I sighed to my dad.

"She did know how to marinade well," he agreed. "Speaking of barbecues…" he bobbed his head to the backseat. "There's a cooler in there with meats waiting to be grilled."

He brought a barbecue! I became so thrilled that I started clapping my hands and laughing. During, my little outburst of joy, he wheeled my bike over to me.

"Before we get to that though, let's go biking," he said, handing me my helmet.

I put on my gear and positioned myself on my bike. "To the forest and back?" I asked enthusiastically.

My dad nodded. "Just like old times." He wheeled his own bike out and put on his helmet. "Let's get going."

It had been a while since my dad had gone biking, but he still retained his skill. We raced through our old favorite paths in the forest, and he beat me a couple of times. I thought back to the races we had when I was a kid. I finally realized that he totally let me win back then.

After we had fun tiring ourselves out, we went back to the campsite to set up our tent. When we were done, the sun was setting. My dad set up everything for the barbecue, while I set up our campfire. We were finished just as the night sky loomed over us, and my dad was grilling as the campfire was crackling. He cooked all the meats the way we both liked them, and stuffed them all in two plates just for the both of us. We took our seats by the fire and dug in.

"Mmmm," I said, chewing on a steak he cooked. "This tastes just like how mom made it."

"She wrote all her recipes in a little book, and I just followed her instructions," he said.

I smiled at him. "I miss her so much."

I was reminded of the time when we all would sit by the fire and my mom would tell me stories. I would snuggle up to her and fall asleep on her lap, and then I'd wake up the next morning in the tent. My dad would be snoring away and my mum would be sound asleep. I would go out and sit by the lake for a while before they woke up.

My dad smiled back at me and said, "I miss her too, sweetheart."

Ah, my mother. She was such a remarkable person. She had only been my mother for seven years, but she stuck with me even after she was gone. Everything she taught me about life and morals stilled guided me well throughout my teenage years. She had the kindest soul of anyone I had ever known.

Then I thought back to the dream that I had the night before. Where I believed I had seen my mother, but one who was very different from whom I was familiar with.

"Dad?" I called out.

"Yeah?"

"Speaking of mom…" I started. "Was there anything sort of wild and kind of bad that happened in her past?"

My dad took a moment to think as he munched on a sausage. "Well, I think you'll have to be more specific than that. A lot of things happened in your mom's past that could fit that description. She was a witch, after all."

I told him about my dream of the warehouse and the telekinesis. Then I told him about the Spellcasting and Powers class, and how I suspected I could have astral projected back to the past.

He took in my words as he finished his sausage. "I don't think there was anything of that sort that happened to her. At least not as long as I knew her, and you know we'd known each other for a very long time."

"Yeah, you were high school sweethearts," I said, exhaling happily. "But, are you sure nothing like that happened to her?"

My dad gave me a firm nod. "I'm quite positive, yes."

Hmm. That was strange. Maybe I didn't astral project to the past. Mrs. Stone did say that it took a lot of power to do so. Perhaps I was just having a weird dream about my mother because I was reminded of her thanks to the amulet. I clutched at my chest, to check if it was still there. It was nestled safely under my shirt where I had left it.

"Okay," I said. "Thanks."

"No problem, darling," he said. Then he proceeded to attack his plate with fervor.

When we had finished our food, we cleaned up, and packed everything away. We put out the campfire to watch the stars.

"There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight," my dad said, as we sat on the grass and looked up at the sky.

"That's great! There's no moon, so they'll be easy to spot," I said.

The sky was so clear and I could spot all the constellations clearly.

"Oh look! There's one now," my dad said, pointing at Orion's Belt. I glimpsed the shooting star just as it faded away.

We saw more of them time and time again for an hour, until my dad stood up and said, "well, I think I'm going to change and turn in for the night. What about you?"

I pushed myself off the ground to level with him and said, "I think I'm going to stay a little longer. I love seeing the stars. You go ahead."

I moved in to hug him tightly. "Thanks for everything dad," I said.

"It's no problem, sweetheart," he said to me.

"No, really," I said. "Thanks for everything. Thanks for listening to me yesterday. Thanks for the hot chocolate, and the pizza, and the letter… And thanks for this trip."

I squeezed him tighter and said, "You're amazing, dad. Mom might not be here anymore, but you make up for that more than any child could ask for."

"Hey," he said softly. "It's the least I can do for my amazing daughter." He stroked the back of my head. "Enjoy the stars, and go to sleep soon, okay?"

"Okay," I said. I gleamed up at him and saw that his eyes were a little glassy. He gave me a pat on the back before he broke away from the hug, and headed off to our tent.

When my dad was gone, I laid myself down on the grass. I took out my phone and turned it on to check the time. It buzzed as soon as it came to life, stating that I had two missed calls and one message pending.

Belle? I thought.

But when I checked the number, it was Blake Tarragon. I opened the message to see why he had contacted me.

_Blake: Hey, Addie. Are you home? Get back to me._

The message was sent a few hours back, but I decided to text him back anyway. I wondered what he wanted from me. He had never contacted me before. We had exchanged numbers for Out of the Circle, but never had to use them. I hit reply and typed out my message.

_Me: Hey, sorry. I wasn't home. What's up?_

My phone beeped a few minutes later.

_Blake: I accidentally took your English book, and I thought you might need it to study, so I came by your house. I called, but you didn't pick up so I left it with your neighbors. Hope that's okay._

I couldn't believe that Blake bothered to come all the way to my house just to return my book. I could have gotten a copy of it online and it wouldn't have been a problem. It was really considerate of him.

_Me: Yeah, it's fine. Thanks._

I expected the conversation to end there so I put my phone in my pocket and turned my attention back to the stars. In just moments, my phone beeped.

_Blake: So, where did you go?_

_Me: My dad surprised me and brought us camping._

_Blake: That's nice. Are you outside right now?_

_Me: Yeah, why?_

_Blake: There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, you should check it out. It's pretty cool._

I was taken aback to learn that Blake knew about the meteor shower. Most people didn't care about this kind of stuff. I loved the stars, but even I wasn't aware of the shower until my dad told me. First it was the homework, and now this. Perhaps Blake really was right about me being prejudiced against him. I wonder what other quirks he had up his sleeve.

_Me: I'm looking at the sky right now. It's gorgeous._

_Blake: That's good. I'm going to sleep now. Enjoy the stars. Goodnight. :)_

_Me: Okay. Goodnight. :)_


	18. Chapter 18: I'll Teach You

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

* * *

><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 18<span>

Lots of days passed since my trip to Camp Coyote with my dad. I breezed through the English quiz on Monday. I actually had Blake to thank for that, because many of his practice questions came out. He really _did_ work hard, and it showed. The English test was over, but the work piled on. Everyone in school was starting to get busy now. We had left the lazier early weeks of the academic year and entered the hectic ones. I hadn't talked to Belle, and she hadn't talked to me either. We didn't really cross paths outside of class, and we were too occupied inside of class. I was about to head home after school on Wednesday when Skye caught up to me right at the doors of the exit.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hi."

He stood there in all his British boy charm, yet he managed to look adorably nervous at the same time.

"So… I know you asked me for time to think about things," he began. He shifted his feet and sunk his head down at them. "But, I just need to know…" He looked up and caught my gaze. "Do you have an answer for me?"

I froze. This was the moment I had to tell Skye; yes or no. When Skye first asked me out in the lounge, I had no idea what my reply would be. After my dad told me that I knew exactly what I wanted to tell Skye, I believed that I did. Then Blake asked if I was going to reject Skye, and immediately, I wanted to tell Skye yes. I wanted to go up to him on that Friday and give him my answer. I was just about ready to have him whisk me away somewhere, and impress me with more lasagna, plane messages, and songs. But it was an impulse, and I refrained from acting on it. I needed to think it through properly, because I owed Skye that.

I spent the last few days thinking long and hard about what I wanted to tell him, dreading the moment he came to find me, because I knew I would never get back to him fast enough. I had considered everything – what saying yes would mean, and what saying no would mean. There were pros and cons to me accepting his offer for a date. The pros list was a long one. Skye was such a nice guy. He was talented, artistic, smart, and incredibly sweet. He had always been ambitious in school, he was well-traveled, and he made a mean lasagna to boot. Even on a superficial level, Skye didn't fail. He was handsome, foreign, and his parents were loaded. He was on the school football team, and he was adored by all his peers. To be honest, a lot of his traits had fit into the description of my perfect type of guy. If I had said yes to him, at the very least my social standing would improve, if nothing else.

Unfortunately, there were also a couple of pitfalls to agreeing to go out with him – the most important being Belle. I lied to her. It wasn't even the fact that she liked Skye, and pined over him for as long as he claimed to have pined over me. No. It was the fact that during my developments with Skye, I decided to omit the truth from her. I had failed to keep up the best friend code, and we had fallen into an estrangement of sorts. We hadn't even made up yet, and if I were to accept Skye, it would be like a slap to her face in our silent war. Also, Skye was a popular kid, and it would pull up my social ranks to date him. Yes, this was both a pro and a con. It was a con because that could mean that if things between Skye and me got serious, we'd have to acknowledge one another in school more often. I could even be forced to sit by Carla (and people like her) at the lunch table. There was no way I was ready for that kind of thing.

Yet above all of that, I knew one thing for sure. I didn't want to admit it, because he was such a catch. I would be so lucky to have him remotely be anything of a boyfriend to me. But the problem was simple; I was not attracted to Skye. I did like him. I liked him a lot. I just didn't like him the way he wanted me to. I thought back to all the times we had spent alone together. He made me smile, laugh, and have a good time. But it was similar to the kind of way that I had good times with Belle, my best friend. I hated to say it but there was no spark. The mere fact that I had weighed and calculated my reply to him asking me out – like a math test – only proved as much.

Now he was standing right in front of me, eager and hopeful, and I was about to crush all that away. Somehow though, I knew that he would be fine. It might hurt him to hear it now, but soon enough, he would give himself a good shake and move on. He might have had a crush on me for some time, but that was when he didn't know me. When he didn't know me, it was easy to imagine what I would be like. He could make up the perfect scenarios for the both of us, and we would have been incredible in his fantasies. But whatever illusion of me he might have created would have shattered the moment we had any real time together. I knew that on some personal level, he registered that we just didn't click in a romantic way.

I had no choice but to tell him the truth.

"Skye." My eyes locked with his. "I want to cut straight to the point and say… I like you a lot."

I paused to prepare myself. "But…"

"But," he repeated in a disappointed tone, knowing exactly what was coming.

I tilted my head and gave him a tight smile. "But I think that we would be great as friends." I tried my hardest not to look away. "Nothing more."

I could tell that Skye was not happy with my words, but he did not respond to them. I put my hand on his arm and said, "Thank you for being so wonderful. I really liked that song you wrote for me. I just think that I'm not the right girl for you to sing it to. I know that girl is somewhere though. You're a catch, and she's going to find you."

Maybe it's Belle, I added in my head. I stopped myself from snickering, because of the delicate situation. I didn't know whether or not Belle and Skye would click if they gave it a go, but I did think that they had a better chance than him and me. I remembered the day he was officially introduced to Belle at his birthday, there was definitely something there. They totally had a moment. Then again, Belle could have moved on from Skye. She made out with Gaia after all.

I stopped my thoughts there, and returned to Skye, getting ready for the worst. I shielded up, hoping to the heavens that he wouldn't create a scene in the hallway.

And for one of the nicest twists I'd had in my life… Skye gave me a smile.

"Okay," he said. He brought his hand up to mine, on his arm. "Thanks for being honest with me."

I was so relieved. What a nice choice of words. I had felt so pent up about lying to Belle, for the longest time, that his statement was so comforting. I was told Skye the truth, and it freed some of my guilt.

"I'm glad that we can still be mates," he added.

I smiled easily now and relaxed myself. "Me too."

"How about you and I just get together as friends sometime? Have a cuppa and some lasagna." There was no suggestion or innuendo in his voice. He was being completely sincere.

"I'd like that."

He pulled my hand away then brought me into a hug. It wasn't a romantic spin, fall, and catch, kind of hug. It was a light and friendly kind of hug. I hugged him back happily. Everything turned out better than I had thought.

"Ahem."

We both pulled away at the sound of Blake's voice. He had been standing next to us, just watching the both of us hug. I wondered how long he had been there. "You're blocking the doorway," he said casually.

"Sorry," Skye and I both said in unison as we stepped aside.

Blake was about to walk through when Skye said, "Hey, Blake?"

He turned to Skye. "Yeah?"

"I can't make it to tennis today. I've got something with the folks."

"Alright, that's good. Carla can't make it either, so there'll be no problem for teams."

"Okay. See you later, mate," Skye said.

Blake gave him a nod and walked off.

"So, Addie," Skye said calmly. "I'll see you later, too?"

"Yeah, I guess you will."

* * *

><p>I arrived at the sports center like I had a fortnight ago; on my bike, and perspiring because of it. I was glad that this time, I knew my way around. I wouldn't have to push through any physically superior beings, and embarrassingly find myself in synchronized swimming.<p>

Blake was sitting on a bench, next to the same court as the last time, all clad in his tennis gear. He always looked _so preppy_ when he was out of his football jersey. Even his hair was combed down neatly. He seemed to be lost in thought when I walked over. He barely noticed I was there.

"Hey," I called out as I set my bag beside him with a loud 'thud'.

"Hey." Blake shot up. "Addie. Hey," he said, shaking his head, as if to wake himself up. He must have been pondering hard.

I clutched my racket and pointed it at the court. "Shall we?"

"Sure." Blake trailed in and I followed.

We took our positions on the court. Well, Blake took his position and I mirrored it. I wasn't confident the last time, but there were four of us, so it was easier to hide it. Now, it was just Blake and me. I worried that he could see I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that I was supposed to hit the ball after it bounced off the ground first. Blake served and I let the ball touch the ground once, and then attempted to hit it with my racket. Thankfully, he made it easy for me, and I was able to get it over the net.

When he passed the ball back to me, I stayed where I was, and attempted to hit the ball by flailing my racket out at it. I winced when I saw that I missed by about five feet.

"Fifteen, love," Blake said.

Fifteen? How was that fifteen points? I thought as I scrunched up my face.

I wondered why in the world he called me 'love'. That was Skye's sort of thing. Then I remembered that 'love' was Tennis lingo for zero, and felt really stupid. I was so glad that I didn't say any of my thoughts out loud. My cheeks began to burn at the thought. I could feel them turning really red. My light skin did me no favors in that department.

"You okay over there, Rosewood?" Blake said from the other side of the court. He squinted his eyes, and peered at me. "You kind of look like a tomato."

I blushed even harder at that, and turned away. I looked up at the sky, the trees, the lights… Basically anything that avoided his face. Blake caught on, and came up to me. "What's wrong?"

I sighed. "I have no idea how to play tennis," I admitted. "I don't even know how to swing this thing." I motioned at my racket.

"I couldn't tell," Blake said sarcastically.

I pushed the side of his arm and said, "Shut up." I felt my cheeks go back to normal, slowly.

Blake gave out a little chuckle. "Come on, I'll teach you how."

I eyed him. "Okay." I straightened my outfit and said, "Sure. Teach me."

Blake began to explain the rules of tennis. He said that the first point counted as '15', the second as '30', the third as '40', and forth as 'Game'. He explained the roles of the server and the receiver, the lines in the court, and everything that happened in between. I listened intently, trying to memorize as best as I could. When he was done, I nodded slowly. "Okay, I think I got it."

"Good." Blake gave me a little bow, and said, "I'm going to go to the other side of the court, and serve the ball now."

"Wait," I called.

"Hmm?"

I lifted up my racket to view, and said, "Can you teach me how to swing this? I'm not even sure if I'm holding it right."

"Sure." He began to explain the types of grips, both forehand and backhand. He demonstrated me the basics with his own racket, and I tried to copy him.

"Like this?" I said, swinging with what he called a 'continental grip'.

"No," he demonstrated it for me once more. "Like this."

I gave it another go, but I must have done it wrong again. Blake tossed aside his racket, and got close to me. He stepped behind me, right past my personal space barrier, and held my forearm. I could feel his chest brush my shoulder as he did.

"Here," he said sad softly, as he guided my arm, slowly motioning how I had to pull the racket. I felt his fingers gently cling to my waist, attempting to keep my form steady. A tingle went down my spine at the delicate touch. To my dismay, I let out a little shudder. Blake either didn't notice it, or ignored it.

When he was done, he stepped back and said, "Try it like that."

Before I could process anything, he grabbed a ball and tossed it my way. I quickly swiped my racket out with zeal, holding it the way he showed me. I hit the yellow ball and it glided swiftly through the air, over net, and bounced to Blake's side of the court before it went out of the line.

I triumphantly pushed my racket into the air and announced, "I did it!"

It felt exhilarating. I hit the ball properly, and no one got hurt in the forehead this time around.

Blake gave me a small thumbs-up and said, "Yeah, that was good."

I was so excited now. I wanted to learn all the other grips and master tennis immediately. "What next? Show me how to do the backhand." I requested eagerly.

"Slow down," Blake said. He headed over to his side of the court. "How about we just work on that forehand today?"

I wanted to move forward, but he was right, I had only hit one ball. I was far from mastering the continental grip. "Okay," I said, and positioned myself.

Blake threw some more fluffy yellow balls my way as I practiced my grip and swing. We continued doing this for twenty more minutes, and I was slowly getting comfortable with everything. I was about to ask for a break when I felt a cold drop of water land on my arm. Then one landed on my nose, and then another on my other arm. I looked up and saw that it was starting to rain. The sun was up, and the sky was relatively bright, but the rain quickly began to pour.

Blake and I hurriedly ran out of the court, as the rain got heavier and heavier, very fast. Everyone around us was also rushing for shelter. I grabbed at my duffel bag on the bench, and Blake and I made our way to the main building of the sports center. When we arrived, we were already soaked. A lot of other people had also come in from the outside. The rain had come so suddenly, with no warning. Strangely, the sun was still shining through, even though the water was hammering down hard.

I shivered when the building air-conditioning blew at my wet clothes. Blake saw this and said, "Wait here, I'll go get my bag from the locker room. I have a towel."

He scurried away and I was left standing by the drinks dispenser. The dispenser gave out both hot and cold water, and there was a table next to it with drink packets. I decided to brew up some tea while I waited.

I was stirring two hot green teas on the table, when I felt something drape around me. Blake had come back with his towel.

"Thanks," I said, handing him his drink.

He took it and asked, "How did you know I like green tea?"

"I didn't," I remarked. I blew into my paper cup and took a careful sip. "I like green tea, and I didn't know what you would want, so I just made it for you as well."

"Okay. Thanks."

He took a big gulp from his cup – which made me worry because it was still very hot – and gave out a satisfied 'ahh'. I guessed that his vampire-ness allowed him to survive that somehow.

We stood by the dispenser, quietly enjoying our teas for a while, when Blake broke the silence. "I have a crazy idea," He said. "But I'm not sure you'll be brave enough to go along with it."

My curiosity piqued. I gave him a look and said, "What do you have in mind?"

An adventurous gleam shone in his eye. "Let's go swimming."


	19. Chapter 19: A Nice Kind of Rain

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

* * *

><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 19<span>

"Okay, maybe you're right. I don't think I'm brave enough for this."

Blake and I had gotten out of the sports center, and put our phones and bags away in his car. We then walked around to the back, where the swimming pool was, and we were standing by the painted metal fence. The pool had been cleared out because of the rain, and there was no one in view. We were going to attempt climbing over. We knew we wouldn't be able to get inside from the center itself, because there were people around that would be watching.

"Isn't this all sorts of illegal?" I demanded.

Blake was examining the fence, looking for parts to grip and stand on. "Probably," He answered. "But only if we get caught."

"Great!" I announced. "Also, isn't it dangerous to swim when it rains? We could die!"

Blake stopped to turn to me, and gave me a look that screamed 'stop being so dramatic'. "It's not a thunderstorm. There aren't even any winds. The chance of anything bad happening is really low," He said.

"Besides." He shrugged. "Taking a risk is always fun."

He signaled for me to walk to him, and I did. "This fence is a bit tricky, we can't climb it," he said. "But I can jump it."

Before I could protest, he grabbed at me, pulling me close. Then he jumped higher than humanly possible. I clung on to his shirt with fear and buried my head into his chest, shutting my eyes tightly. I braced myself for impact. None came. He landed swiftly on the other side, and set me down.

I let go of him and peeped open an eye. He had an amused expression on his face. "Still alive?" He asked, keeping his voice low.

"Yeah," I breathed out.

I guessed we were really doing this.

"Okay," Blake whispered. "Now that we're in here, we have to be quiet. The rain will cover us enough, but we won't do ourselves any favors by being loud." He took a quick glance around the area. "I'll use my hearing to scope if anyone comes nearby. If they do, I'll give you a signal, and we have to duck into the water and not move."

I nodded to show that I was listening.

"If we get caught, there are two ways out of here, on each end." He pointed at the exits. "We run out of the opposite one of wherever our catcher comes from." With one last look at me, he asked, "Got it?"

"I got it."

Blake peeled off his shirt and tossed it to the side. The sight of his bare upper-body made me blush instantly. I tried to look away, and I did… for about two seconds. But I couldn't help it, I had to look. I might have been bombarded with countless good-looking, shirtless celebrities in the media every day, but that's all they were; celebrities. It was actually quite rare to see a boy I actually knew take his off. Plus, it's not like I was constantly invited to swimsuit parties or anything.

I was just curious about the male form. That's all. This was purely educational.

Blake had faced away from me during the time I looked away, so I shamelessly went on to study his back. I took in every curve, every line, and every muscle, as the rainwater dripped off him slowly. I had to confess, Blake had nice back. It resembled all the perfectly touched up ones of those guys in the magazines.

Before Blake got into the pool, he turned around – flashing his well-sculpted football-player-abs my way – and gave me a wink. He then dove into the water soundlessly.

Cheeky bastard, I thought, but I couldn't stop the smile that formed on my lips.

When his head bobbed up to the surface, he looked at me through the rain, and telepathically asked, _Getting in, Rosewood?_ He was too far from me to able to whisper.

I couldn't respond telepathically back, and I wasn't going to open my mind up for him to take my thoughts either. Thanks to his super-hearing though, I didn't have to. "Yeah, I guess I am, Tarragon."

Blake probably expected me to take off my clothes, and jump in wearing just my underwear. Not a chance in hell, I thought. I didn't have a swimsuit because we never made any plans to go swimming. This adventurous and mischievous detour was definitely the kind that I couldn't write in the journal, and give back to Ms. Lark.

I walked over to the edge, and sat down, dipping my legs in the water. It was so cold. I pushed myself off, and submerged completely under. I was glad that I was wearing all my clothes, because they somehow kept me warm, but they were a bit heavy. The low temperature combined with the stiffness from my clothes made it a little hard for me to move around.

"It's _really_ cold," I whispered to Blake when I came up for air. He was floating somewhere away in the middle.

_Swim it off,_ I heard him say in my head.

I always found it a little strange that vampires had the ability to do that. It felt a little nuts to be able to literally hear voices in my head that weren't mine.

I did as he said, and started swimming laps, and he joined me. The pool was Olympic sized, so we had a fair bit of space. After we made a couple of relatively noiseless rounds, I was warmed up, but a little tired.

I got on my back and started floating.

"I love swimming. I do it all the time, but I've never gone in the rain before," I said to Blake, who wasn't too far away.

I closed my eyes and took it all in. It was different than the storm that taunted me during my pitiful walk home on that gloomy day. That rain was dark, wild, and scary. This was much better; calmer. It was a nice kind of rain. Something about it lifted my spirits and made me feel alive, yet tranquil at the same time.

"It's so… peaceful," I exhaled, as I drifted aimlessly. I listened to the pitter patter of the raindrops against the surface of the pool. They also massaged my face in a wonderful way, tapping onto my skin lightly.

"Yeah, it's pretty great." Blake startled me and I flailed. I lost my balance and dunked right into the water. He had swum up to me when I had my eyes closed at the sky.

He pulled me up straightaway, but I came out coughing. "Addie, are you okay?" His eyes had gone slightly wild.

I coughed out once more. I had swallowed a bit of the pool water, and some had gone up my nose. I pinched it because of the burning. "I'm fine. I just have some liquids where I don't want them to be."

"I'm sorry for scaring you like that. Are you sure you're okay? I'm sorry."

I gave him a reassuring nod and said, "Don't worry. I'm solidly built."

"Sorry," Blake said once more.

"Yeah. It's fine." I said. "Also… You can let go of me now." He was still holding me from when he pulled me out of the water.

Just as he did, a man's voice broke through to us from the other end of the pool. "Hey! How did you guys get in? You're not supposed to be here!"

My heart almost stopped beating.

"Crap." Blake whispered. The man must had come around when Blake was distracted apologizing to me. "We have to get out of here."

I had drifted close to the edge when I was on my back, so we were able to lift ourselves out quickly. "Run!" Blake commanded. He sprinted for the door and I followed behind. I was pretty scared so I was able to keep up. Blake couldn't spring away at super-speed, and risk exposing himself to the man, but he was still fast.

"Hey!" The man shouted. "Stop right there!"

Blake and I didn't listen, and we kept going. The man was all the way on the other side, so we had a good head start. We reached the doors to a hallway that would lead us to the main building.

"Is he chasing us?" I asked.

"Yup," Blake responded. "We have to keep going!"

We dashed through the hall and reached the end. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins, mixed with a decent amount of fear. Blake pushed opened the doors to the main building and we leaped inside.

_He's not far behind._ Blake said telepathically. _I can hear him running through the hall. We have to get out of the center._

The room was crowded because it was still pouring. We had to push past a lot of people to get to the exit.

When we finally got outside, I said, "Is he still following us?"

Blake stopped to listen, cupping a hand around his ear. "I can't tell. There are too many people getting in the way." He brought his hand back down.

"Let's not take any chances." He flipped his head toward the park. "C'mon we can hide there."

"Okay," I said.

We both continued running, and I didn't dare to look back. Blake led us to an area in the park I hadn't been to before. There was no one around because of the rain, and we were shielded thanks to a bunch of trees.

Blake slowed to a stop. "I think we lost him," He said.

I slumped over and supported myself with my hands on my knees. I had to catch my breath.

When I looked up at Blake, something took over me and I started laughing. He did the same. Soon enough, we got a little hysterical.

"That was insane," I said, after we both calmed down.

"It was pretty badass," He agreed.

I was still giggling a little when I said, "Hey, wait a minute." I took a few short gasps of air, as the laughing did not help my lack of oxygen from the run. "Why did we have to run? Couldn't you have just erased that guy's memory?"

"I could have," Blake said. "But I didn't because it wouldn't have been any fun."

He smirked. "Anyway, that-" He pointed to the direction of the sports center. "-was the most fun I have had in a long while."

"Seriously?" I asked, highly doubting that statement. "You seem to have a lot of fun with your friends. Like all the time."

Blake snorted. "Not really," He said. "I mean, Skye would never do this sort of thing. He's a model citizen. You know… a good boy."

I scoffed at that. "Does that make me a bad girl?"

"Nah," He said with a smile. "It just makes you interesting."

"Okay," I said, smiling back at him. "What about Carla? Haven't you ever done this with her?

"Carla?" Blake said her name in a tone that suggested I had asked him something absolutely ridiculous. He then laughed a little too loudly. "Nope," He finally answered. "She gets _really_ uptight when it comes to breaking the rules. Her parents would flip if she ever got in trouble and she's totally scared of them. So she just avoids it altogether."

"Well then," I said. "You're welcome."

Blake threw me a puzzled expression. "For what?"

"For giving you the pleasure of experiencing how interesting and fun I am."

Blake laughed. "Don't get too cocky on me, Rosewood."

I gave him a mocking little grin and said, "I'm just giving you a taste of your own medicine, Tarragon."

I walked over to a big tree nearby, and took a seat under it. I leaned back against it, and relaxed myself. "I'm wiped," I said.

Blake walked over and sat next to me. The trunk was big enough to accommodate the both of us. Something felt a little off about our situation. Then I came to the realization that Blake still didn't have his shirt, and was leaning on the wood, bare-backed.

I pushed myself away from the tree, and turned to face him. "Hey, you left your shirt at the pool," I said with a hint of worry laced in my voice.

"Don't worry about that. They're not going to trace it back to me. People leave things lying around all the time," he replied.

"No, that's not what I meant," I said. "Don't you at least need a layer of fabric between you and the wood or something? Won't you get hurt?"

"Why?" Blake gave me a suggestive look. "Are you going to offer me _your_ shirt?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh please," I said. "_In your dreams_."

"Didn't think so," He said. "Don't worry. The tree can't really hurt me as long as it doesn't decide to stab me with its branches."

"Okay," I said, and nestled myself back against the trunk.

"So…" I said, dragging my voice out. I looked around and saw that the rain was slowing down to a light drizzle. I didn't really know what to do, so I stared at a flower bush somewhere across from me. Blake was also looking at something far off.

"So…" Blake repeated.

Right before it was about to turn awkward, I thought up something to say. "What were you thinking about earlier?"

"Sorry, when?" Blake asked in a confused tone.

"You know…" I said. "Right before I arrived for our tennis game."

"Oh that. I was just thinking about my engagement to Carla."

"I see…" I stared harder at the bush, and started critiquing the colors of its flowers in my head. They were too pale for my tastes.

Blake sighed. "I'm not exactly too happy about it."

I stopped my weird judging of the flowers at that. He said the same thing when he first told me about their soon-to-be wedding. I couldn't really swallow why he was upset.

"Yeah, I don't really understand," I said. "I know that you guys broke up and all, right before it happened… But why are you so unhappy about it? Up until then, you guys were together. You _chose_ to be her boyfriend a lot of times. If I were forced to marry someone, I'd be glad if it were a person I had been in a relationship with before."

Blake took a little time to think. "Yeah, sure," he said after a while. "But being in a petty high school relationship is different from getting married."

"My parents got married, and they were together since high school. It wasn't petty for them," I countered.

"Yeah but they probably had a bunch of stuff in common or something," he said. "Carla and I don't."

That's funny, I thought. He was the school's star quarterback, and Carla was head cheerleader. They probably had the most things in common out of all the people in school. Didn't they?

I wasn't too convinced, but I decided to give Blake the benefit of the doubt. "If you guys have nothing in common, why did you even go out with her in the first place?" I asked.

"Because she's hot."

I rolled my eyes. "And you said I was prejudiced about you."

"In my defense, I said I worked hard in school. I never said I wasn't shallow," He offered.

I chuckled at that. But the thing is, I didn't believe him. Blake had been proving to me lately that he really did have more to offer under that Barbie-boy exterior. "I don't think you're shallow," I said.

"You don't?" He asked, a little stunned.

"Well," I started. "I _used_ to think you were really shallow. And stupid," I said blatantly. "But, I have been getting to know you a bit better these past weeks… and I have been changing my mind."

I shrugged my shoulders. "You've kind of been surprising me at every turn."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

I inhaled deeply, trying to catch as much of the smell of the artificial park nature that I could. This was becoming a strange conversation, but I liked it. I wanted to learn more about Blake. It was an unusually satisfying feeling to hear him open up. The more he did, the more I wanted to know.

"Since you're not as shallow as you make yourself out to be... I want to ask you," I said. "What's the _real _reason you and Carla have been together, on and off, for so long?"

The rain stopped completely now, and it left a trail of light fogginess behind.

"Fine," Blake said. "I really did date her _initially_ because she was hot. It was pretty easy to do since we ran in the same circles. We were just starting out in high school and it seemed like the natural thing to do" I saw Blake clasp his hands from the corner of my eye. "But later, it started to become about our parents."

That's curious, I thought. "How so?"

"Ever since they found out we were dating, they got really excited… And they pretty much planned the wedding already. I just didn't know how serious they really were," Blake said bleakly. "Now I do."

"Oh," I said. Before I could say anything else, Blake added more to his answer.

"Whenever Carla and I split, for one reason or another… If word reached my parents, they would convince me to get back together with her. If I refused, they usually brought along threats..." His voice darkened at that last sentence – as if the threats were so horrifying he couldn't bring himself to speak of them.

Goddess, I had absolutely no idea. It had always seemed like Blake and Carla were just indecisive idiots whenever they went on those on-again, off-again sprees. Belle and I would always hear stories about a silly break-up they would have in some party. Then we'd hear that they hooked up in the back of some alley, and got back together. Over the course of three years, I would be told some variation of that kind of story, and I had always just believed it.

Geez, Blake and Carla were just supposed to be two shallow bucket-heads that had a stupid and fluffy relationship. I couldn't process how it had even come to this sort of seriousness.

"I never knew. I'm sorry," I said weakly.

"It's okay." Blake let out a soft snort. "My parents have been doing that sort of thing to me my entire life. It's not just with Carla. If anything I wanted didn't align with their plans for me, they'd never let me have it. It's been that way for as I long as I can remember… and I'm used to it."

My heart broke at his words, as I thought about my own parents.

I had only known my mother for seven years of my life… but in those years she was an angel. She taught me right from wrong. She guided me with more love and care than I ever thought I deserved. She put my needs before her own. She would have traded her own life for mine, if she could. I only learned of her dedication to me as a mother years after she died; when I took the time to think back to all the times I had with her.

And my father… Well, my father had been nothing short of amazing either. The day that my mother died, he took over both roles. He barely took time away to mourn because he was too busy taking care of me. I even remembered the day I got my first period. I ran to him, not knowing what to do. He didn't laugh at me or mock me. He didn't tell me to go find a woman to tell me what to do because he was uncomfortable. Instead, he did his research, and told me everything that I needed to know. He calmed me down, and helped soothe any cramps that I had. He was there for me during every moment of my life, and I could never repay him. He proved time and time again that all he cared about was my happiness. He would have never done what Blake's parents did to him. What they were _still doing_ to him.

"I'm sorry," I said again.

I looked over at him, wanting to comfort him somehow. His face had gone stern, and his jaw was tight. We were sitting so close to each other that it would have been so easy to reach over and hug him. But as trivial as it was, he was shirtless, and I felt nervous about that. So instead of hugging him, I just leaned my head against his shoulder. It was a bit of a risky move, as I half expected him to push me off. He didn't. What he did do was rest his own head on mine.

"I guess I'll just have to deal with it," Blake said depressingly.

I didn't know what to say anymore, so silence ensued. It wasn't awkward though. No. There was something magnificently comfortable about being in that moment with Blake. My head felt so… _right_ in his shoulder. I closed my eyes to heighten the experience. After a while, the urge to hug him sprang up again. I fought every fiber of my being against the notion.

Blake cleared his throat sometime later, and brought his head back up. So I pulled mine away from him as well.

"Speaking of relationships and things like that…" he began. His tone of voice suggested that he wanted to move far away from the topic of his parents. I wasn't going to argue.

"I'm guessing you and Skye are an item now?"

Blake saw us hugging at school. I guessed he wasn't standing there for very long - which meant he had absolutely no context. That was probably why he had arrived to the conclusion that Skye and I were dating.

Because of the talk we had in the library the other day, I was tempted to tell him that, yes, Skye and I were together. I wanted to shove it at him, and say that we were incredibly in love, and that we couldn't be happier. But the atmosphere and mood was all wrong for that kind of thing, so I just decided to go with the truth.

"No. I told him that we're going to stay friends," I said.

I mindlessly twisted myself to look at him again. I regretted that decision as soon as I saw that he had also turned to me. His expression had changed from stern to soft. His face was just inches away from mine. Crazily enough, I couldn't bring myself to look away. My eyes had fallen right onto his, and they were magnetizing. I lost myself in that enchanting crystal-blue color. They looked so deep and inviting. Our noses were so close, they almost touched.

"So you don't like him?" He asked, as his breath feathered my face. His voice had gone low. He kept his gaze on me, and he didn't blink. I didn't either.

The world around us began to grow quiet. Perhaps it was because of the calm that comes after the rain. Perhaps it was because I was starting to feel a bit dizzy – without really knowing why. I wasn't sure which one it was.

"I only like him as a friend," I answered softly.

My hair was wet and messy from the rain, and there was a curly ringlet covering part of my left eye. Blake brought a hand up, and twirled it in his finger. Then he brushed it over my ear gently. My heart began to thump in my chest, and ring in my ears. I could hear it much louder than I ever had before in my life.

"Good," he said.

His eyes flashed down – so fast that I almost missed it – to my lips. I didn't know why, but I returned that gesture.

We stopped talking again. Now, we were just looking into each other's eyes. Time felt like it had slowed to infinity, yet in that same instant, it was racing forward at full speed. The air between us was charged with something very electric.

Another urge welled up inside me, and this time, I didn't fight it. I brought my hand to his cheek, and brushed it lightly. Blake didn't pull away. Instead, he reached over to cup the back of my head. In that very moment, I knew exactly what was going to happen next... and I didn't stop it.

Blake pulled me in slowly, and settled his lips on mine.


	20. Chapter 20: Stronger

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p>Hello you lovely readers!<p>

I am so sorry for taking a bit longer to post this chapter. I just had to take a little extra time with it. Anyway. thanks for reading. I hope you like it!

Fingers crossed.

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><p><span>Chapter 20<span>

Fire.

It was the first thing I felt when Blake kissed me. It enveloped me entirely; my flesh, my bones, and my being.

Light.

My universe illuminated. My eyes were closed but I was blinded by a burst of colors I had never seen before.

A cord of silver.

It pulled at me, forceful and strong. I felt it start from my own body and reach out to Blake's. It was undeniably powerful, connecting us beyond physical touch.

Realization.

A thought reached my mind before I had allowed it to; soulmates. That was when I knew. I finally knew. Blake and I were soulmates.

Acceptance.

I had known all along, but I didn't accept it. I couldn't. There was too much fear, denial, and even hopelessness. But in that moment, it all faded away.

At the hands of my acceptance, my defenses began to falter. My senses grew heightened as I became very aware of Blake's touch. He held me with his arm and guided me back against the tree carefully. He positioned himself on top of me without breaking our kiss. I was dissolving into Blake, as he was melting into me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him as close to myself as I could – erasing any possible gap between us. I could feel his bare skin against the wet fabric of my clothes. Slowly, but surely, my mind opened up to Blake, as his opened up to me. We became one and the same.

So many things took over me at once, yet it happened in only a fraction of a second. With a single kiss, everything in my life came crashing down. Everything I had hoped for, and I everything I had dreamed about was wrong. I was wrong. My soulmate wasn't going to be a tall dark stranger. He wasn't going to randomly show up in my future, and whisk me away from the madness called life. He had been in around since I first laid eyes on him during the first day of freshman year. The day I had walked through the halls with my best friend, Carla, and pointed at a tall blond vampire. I had giggled and whispered to her, 'Isn't he cute?' Carla had agreed, and she giggled along with me.

Unfortunately, I quickly lost that best friend in the most nonsensical manner possible. In a short while later, that cute blond vampire became _her_ boyfriend. I never told Belle – or anyone for that matter – what I said about Blake the first time I saw him. Carla didn't either. Then three years spent as a high school outcast followed. All of this led up to the peculiar events that had me in a park, alone, with Blake Tarragon; _my soulmate_.

_You thought I was cute? _Blake thought. I could hear his mental voice in my mind, but it was different from his telepathy at the pool. It was just like the day at the tennis court, after Carla had attacked me. It was more than his voice, it was a feeling. It vibrated through my skin and etched into my bones. It shattered my soul into a billion pieces and put back together at the same time.

_You're prying_, I thought back to him, a little shaken from our closeness.

Blake laughed, but there was a touch of vulnerability in him as well. _You're a strong witch. You're projecting._

Suddenly we were both flushed off, back to one of his memories. It was the first day of school. Blake had finished talking to a new friend he made by the lockers. He glanced sideways at two girls who walked past him, locked arm in arm. He did a double take at one of the girls. Unexpectedly, it wasn't the striking tall blond with the model-like figure and sultry blue eyes. It was the smaller, delicate-looking brunette. Her hair was wildly curly, but fell gracefully onto her shoulders. Blake felt a deep pang in his stomach. It was nauseating, but in a good way. It was like the butterflies felt by a child when opening their first gift on Christmas morning. To Blake, the girl he saw glowed diamond-bright – even brighter than the sun or stars. That girl was me.

_I'm not anything like that, _I thought, interrupting his flowing memory. I flashed back into some of my own and saw that weak girl in the mirror, with the awful hair and the unlikeable personality – The girl who was constantly picked on, ridiculed, and taunted, outside of the only two people who seemed to care about her; her dad and Belle.

I wasn't too sure about Belle anymore. Belle was certifiably insane, though. She proved it on more than one occasion and it was obviously the only reason she bothered to tolerate me. And my father had no choice, he had to love me. It's what parents were obligated to do.

Blake experienced all of my thoughts and feelings, as if they were his own. I sensed a protective anger immediately well up inside him. _You have no idea how amazing you really are._

We tumbled back into his memory again, right where we left off. Blake was about to walk up to the girl, and talk to her. But something stopped him. It was anxiety. It was fear. Fear of rejection, and fear of heartbreak. It was ridiculous – he had only laid eyes on the girl just seconds earlier – but he knew. He knew there was something about her that was already a part of him. He just wasn't sure what. He held himself back from reaching out to her. He needed time to think – to introduce himself properly. That time never came. Instead, that luminescent girl had fallen victim to a cruel hierarchy. Not one of feeding, but of power. Just like the economy needed both the rich and poor to keep steady, a high school needed the liked and disliked. In order to distinguish the roles of leaders and the roles of followers, examples had to be made. Sadly, the girl was one of them. Now, past Blake couldn't reach out to her for more than fear or rejection. It was his parents.

Present Blake and I were sucked into another memory of his. It was some days before the first day of NWA. His parents had sat him down to give him a talk.

"We expect you to join the football team. You should make quarterback as soon as possible," Blake mother said. Her tone was flat with no emotion, only authority.

"But I don't like football," Blake protested.

His father threw his head back and laughed. "Son," he said, his voice no less authoritative than Blake's mother. "You don't have to like football. You're good at it. This isn't about hobbies and good times. This is about power."

Blake's mother nodded. "At any other _human_ school, we wouldn't care. But this is not just any school. It's the Night World Academy, where all the important young people of our society are groomed. You need to enforce the idea in their minds that you can rule over them. You need to make an impression from the start. It may seem trivial now, but these are the building blocks you need if you want to gain their respect."

"Especially if you're going to be one of the Elders someday," Blake's father added.

Blake sighed. He didn't know why his parents were so determined for him to become an Elder. They were made up of vampires who, coincidentally, were immortal. The council was full and the only way Blake was ever going to be an Elder, was if one of them died. But Blake's parents were probably hoping for such an event to occur. They had trained themselves to lose any ounce they had of their humanity long ago. It was needed to become a vampire – to hunt humans and feed on their blood. Blake still held on to the part of him that wasn't a monster. Yet, he dreaded that someday he would be exactly like his parents. The path they were clearing for him only added to that dread.

"Also, there will be a Redfern in your year," Blake's father continued. "Make sure that you form an alliance with her, in any way you can. It will be good for our family."

Blake nodded solemnly. He knew there was no use arguing with them about anything. They had made their power over him clear, growing up. They had no love for him beyond the possibility of raising the family status. Ironically they never let him feel like he was a part of that family. He was simply a tool, a pawn. He was an outsider amongst his own flesh and blood. If he had done anything wrong as a child, they punished him far more severely than the crime he committed. If he had disobeyed a simple house rule, they would lock him up in a wooden room for days without blood. If he had gotten close with a human, a _vermin,_ they saw to it that the human was killed. These sorts of punishments followed well into his teenage years.

I was shocked at this. _They did that to you?_ I asked Blake, breaking us away from his memories once more.

_You saw that?_ Blake asked, referring to the talk with his parents. He wasn't aware that we had gone so far into his mind. I was prying. I had pushed myself in. Those were memories he wasn't fond of, and didn't really want to share.

But they helped me. They helped me understand his behavior toward me all those years. I was under the impression that I was just stuck in a cheesy high school dramedy where I was the dunce – a pariah by perverse probability. But I now knew it was by design. It wasn't Blake's design, no. It was the design of all those who wanted to rise to power. The bad mouthing, the pointing, the laughing – they all led toward something bigger.

_I'm sorry, _Blake thought to me softly. He hated himself. He hated how he added to everything that happened to me.

_It's okay,_ I thought back to him warmly. It was just high school after all. Everything was so different now. Now that I knew we were soulmates.

I felt how he felt about me. I knew what he knew. As much as I didn't believe it, he saw me as a person that was brave. He didn't see an ugly girl with an awful personality. He saw a strong girl, who despite how people shunned her, fought back hard. He saw a girl who still managed to enjoy herself with her best friend and still have great times. He admired that she had the guts to stand up to the school, for humans. To him, she truly was amazing.

_You knew we were soulmates, didn't you? You weren't joking that day in the library,_ I suggested.

I heard his slightly uncomfortable laugh in my mind. _I wasn't sure. I had a hunch that sort of came up after I touched you... that day at the court. But then I saw your reaction…_ he stopped. His embarrassment projected loudly as he thought about what I said to him. I had told him I'd prefer a toilet as a better option.

_Oops,_ I thought. I wanted to smack myself on my forehead. _If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure I was in complete denial._

I felt Blake's lips form into a smile against my own. _I'm pretty sure I was in a lot of denial for a long time too. Not anymore though._

Then Blake projected something to me that he probably hadn't meant to. It wasn't a memory or a thought. It was a feeling that was much stronger than anything else I had felt before. It was pure, unadulterated, and intense. It was so many things, yet at the same time, it was indescribable.

It was love.

Blake Tarragon was in love with me.

I was engulfed into a state of bliss. It was absolute perfection. I now wanted to let go of snooping into his memories, and just focus on kissing him. I pulled Blake in even closer than I had before, and wrapped my legs around his body. I jerked him so abruptly that he had to drop a hand onto the ground for balance. He shifted his weight against me to bring his balance back into his legs. I felt him slide a hand up my back, slowly, leaving burning trails behind by his touch. His hand stopped when it reached the nape of my neck, and Blake broke apart from my lips, allowing me to take a gasp of air.

I was about to protest and bring him back into a kiss when he moved his mouth to brush the back of my ear. I shuddered under him at the hot sensation of his breath. He trailed light pecks to the side of my jaw and down to my neck until he reached the base, right above my collarbone. He froze and his breathing gradually turned ragged and harsh. I could sense he was battling something within him.

It was bloodlust.

Of course. I may have been a witch, but my blood worked like any other human. Blake was a vampire and blood gave him oxygen. It gave him life. He needed it to survive, and his entire body was built to obtain it. Blake began to tear away from me, but I stopped him, and forcefully brought his head back down.

"It's okay," I whispered out loud. "You can go ahead."

"I could hurt you," he choked out, there was pain clearly riddled in his words. He was fighting hard.

"You won't."

That was all it took for Blake to let go. His discipline and resolve was gone, and he was going to do it.

I knew that it wouldn't hurt me, as long as I didn't fight it, but I still expected some pain. I held my breath unknowingly, and braced myself. I felt two light pricks pierce through my skin, and to my surprise it didn't affect me much. I waited for it to worsen and weaken me. None of that happened.

Instead, once again my mind began to meld with Blake's. Once again, we were becoming one. I let out the breath I was still holding as the euphoria of merging with him returned.

Blake drawing my blood felt slightly different from the kiss. It was not any less personal, it was just… different. I soon began drifting away, completely lost in my soulmate.

A cold breeze swept at us, making my eyes flutter open. Had the rain come back? I thought. Did it bring storming winds this time? But I did not see any rain. What I did see was utterly flabbergasting.

There were droplets of water suspended in the air, side by side with fallen leaves. They were not blown by the wind, or falling into the ground. They were just floating. Then with a quick look, I saw that I was floating too, along with Blake, in mid-air. We were about seven feet off from the grass below.

_Blake! _I thought to him almost ear-splittingly. Blake jolted away from my neck and brought his eyes to mine. They had gone pure silver.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked fiercely.

I was too mesmerized by the color of eyes to speak for a few moments. I shook myself out of it to focus on the more pressing issue at hand.

"No…" I said. "But look around."

Blake did as I told, and switched his attention to our surroundings. His eyes went wide, confirming that he saw exactly what I did. A look of confusion settled into his features. He didn't understand what was happening and neither did I.

But then we slowly started floating back to the ground. The leaves and water droplets followed. When everything touched the floor, I understood exactly what was happening.

It was me; my unique power, my telekinesis.

Somewhere in between the kiss and bite, I had lifted both Blake and me off into the open space. I quickly brought a hand to my nose to check for blood. There was nothing there.

"What happened?" Blake asked from beside me. He stood up and held out a hand to me. I accepted it and pulled myself up as well.

"It was me," I said, still checking for any sticky liquids above my mouth.

"You did that?" Blake asked, clearly astonished. "How?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure… I'm not even bl–."

Then it came to me. My power had always been tied with emotion. The angrier I got, the stronger I became. But I wasn't angry with Blake. I wasn't furious with him.

I knew precisely what fueled my power so greatly, though.

It must have been when Blake projected that one feeling he didn't exactly mean to. When he let it show that he loved me.

It was love, and it was stronger than anger. It was stronger than anything.

I began to laugh.

Blake just stood there, all the more confused.

I smiled at him, then attacked him with a kiss. When I broke apart, I looked up into his beaming gaze and said, "it was you, you idiot."

The poor guy still looked so confused. I laughed again.

"You love me," I said.

A flash of realization formed in his face. He knew that it not only meant that he loved me, but I loved him too.

It was crazy. Just weeks ago we were 'sworn enemies'.

Sworn enemies… Oh no. Carla, I thought.

I must have thought that so loud, that Blake heard. He let out an agonizing groan.

"Carla," he repeated my thought.

"You're still engaged to her," I said.

He brought his fingers to his temples and rubbed them. "And my parents…" he said. "They're not going to let it go. Especially not now."

"Why especially not now?"

"Remember when I said there might be some tough times ahead?" he asked rhetorically. "Well, there's something brewing with the universe. Some of the Elders have been getting antsy. There's talk of the old powers rising again. It's just rumors… But there could be something very bad in our future, and my parents want some kind of fail-safe. Carla _Redfern_ is that fail-safe."

The old powers? That's awfully serious. Belle was right. There was a war coming. "What are you going to do?" I asked.

Blake let out another groan. "I don't know!" he exasperated. He turned and kicked the big tree that we were previously sitting against. The tree shook and some of the leaves rustled out.

Blake let out a quick breath. "Give me some time. I'm going to have to think some things through… and talk to Carla," he said.

"Okay," I said.

Blake turned back to me and gave me a hug. His arms were strong and safe. "For now, I think we should go back home," he said.

He let go from the hug, and took my hand. "I'll drive you."


	21. Chapter 21: Snacks and Screaming

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p>I'm back!<p>

Sorry for the wait. I realized that those in the Asia/Pacific region only got this chapter on March 1st, so I'm sorry about that too!

I also wanted to clear something up before we move onto the rest of the story;

Basically, can we all just pretend that texting was possible and frequent in the 90s (when all the original NW stories took place) and that my story is in time with Thierry already having revived Circle Daybreak and all. This story takes place after Poppy/James and Mary-Lynette/Ash, and in time with Thea/Eric/Blaise.

Yeah, okay.

Thanks soooo much for reading and I hope you enjoy~

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><p><span>Chapter 21<span>

"Blake drove you home again?" My dad asked when I went into his study to say hello. He was flipping through some papers from work and he didn't look up at me.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "How did you guess?"

"Witch, remember? I just had a feeling," he stated a little absently.

My dad was such a normal goofy kind of person that I sometimes forgot that he was a witch too. He was even from a very pure bloodline, unlike my mother. My mother was actually a lost witch and an orphan, but she found the Night World without any problems thanks to her incredible powers. Yet I always felt as if their back-stories should have been switched. My father was just too comfortable with the human world, which explained my extremely human-like name. I mean, a lot of Night People had been getting more comfortable with these kinds of names but I would have thought that a witch from a pure bloodline would have kept to tradition.

I never regretted how he named or raised me though. It kept me extremely grounded in many ways. Both of my parents have always taught me to never refer to _anyone_ as vermin. They respected life as a whole, and they firmly believed that nobody was truly better than anyone else. Sure, it might have paved the path for me to be much more sympathetic toward humans, hence indirectly causing some major school unpopularity, but I still don't regret it.

"You and your witch-y abilities," I said.

My father finally looked up at me through his signature frame-less glasses, and proceeded to give me a once over. "Got a little caught in the rain again?" He must have known I enjoyed it, because he looked amused instead of worried.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah…"

I really hoped that he wasn't going to ask anything more about Blake. I knew I had to tell him what happened in the park sometime, but I wasn't sure I was ready yet.

It was all so surreal - being back at my house, standing in the archway to my dad's mini-office-at-home, and just trying to take it all in. Just moments ago, I had my very first kiss. Well, first _real_ kiss – middle school truth or dares didn't count.

I kissed Blake Tarragon and it was amazing. It was nothing like twelve year old Trevor Marion's cold fish lips. I remembered swearing off kissing for the rest of my life after that awful dare. Boy was I glad I broke that promise to my silly past-self now. Yes… Kissing Blake was definitely worth it. His lips were so much more soft and tender than I expected any boys' to be. He was so gentle too, as if he were afraid he would break me. I mean, I was literally floating because of that kiss! Then I had to go and ruin the moment by mentioning Carla, and have a quiet drive home because Blake went into a sort of brooding mood.

Now, I had a bit of an empty feeling, and I wanted to tell someone everything. I wanted to gush and go crazy because of what happened. I needed to go red and passionate and rant about what I felt for Blake. I wanted to be pissed off that he was engaged. I wanted to feel guilty that he was engaged and I kissed him. But I didn't exactly want my dad to be the one to do all of that with. Yes, I needed to clear my system up before telling my dad anything. These were the times I wished my mother was still around. But she wasn't, and I knew someone else who _was_ around that I really _really_ wanted to talk to.

"Dad?" I asked. He had already buried himself back into his work.

"Hmm?" he said.

I really hated disturbing him when he got like this, because I didn't like it when I was disturbed when working either. But I needed him to do something for me, and it was a little urgent.

"Can you drive me over to Belle's?"

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><p>I stood in front of Belle's house all dried, in fresh clothes, and carrying a bunch of things in my arms as my dad drove off. I had snacks, chocolates, magazines, and a few of our favorite movies, while feeling stupid that I didn't put everything in a bag first. I planned an entire apology in my head - memorized like a speech to spew out the moment I saw my best friend's face.<p>

I needed her. I hated not having her around. I felt stupid that I needed something to happen in order to give me the courage to speak to her again - but I was grateful that it got me this far.

I scurried over to the front door and push the doorbell with my elbow. I was beginning to feel a bit sick from the anticipation. I hoped that one of her parents would answer, so that there would be a smaller chance of getting the door slammed on my face. But when it did swivel open, I saw Belle.

My brain immediately went blank. That big speech I had? It went poof! Gone - and it was never coming back. My mouth was dry and I couldn't manage to croak out a single word.

I was about to attempt some weak 'sorry' then run away, when Belle attacked me.

She didn't punch me, or kick me, or throw fireballs at me. No.

She jumped and wrapped her arms around me, making me drop everything I had onto the floor.

"You awful witch!" she screamed in my ear.

That had me a bit disoriented. What was going on? Was she hugging me or trying to hurt me?

"It took you long enough to freaking get here," she added. "I love Jesse, I _really_ do, but I couldn't stand listening to her fake accent laced with mindless gossip for another day!"

Now I understood. I hugged her back. "I'm so so sorry I lied, Belle," I said, finally finding my words.

Belle pushed away from the hug, held me by the shoulders, and gave me a hard stare.

"No, I'm sorry I overreacted," she said.

I wanted to melt back into my best friend, and then sort of slap her for being too awesome.

"No," I said. "Let me apologize. Please."

Belle gave me a look. "Okay, fine. But I think we should get all that stuff you just dropped and go inside first."

Belle picked up all the chocolates and snacks, remarking on how she loved every one of them, and how they were all her favorites. I picked up the magazines and movies. We went up to her room, splayed everything on the bed, and each took a seat at the edge.

"So," I began. "I should have told you everything that happened the moment it happened. I know that it's no excuse for lying, but I was afraid I would hurt you if I told you what Skye told me. I am so sorry. I should have known that you wouldn't care about that as much as me betraying your trust. Then one lie piled after another and another and I couldn't stop! I am so sorry." I was starting to ramble, because I still forgot my entire speech. "Then you told me you made out with Gaia, and I was thinking, S_he's over Skye! Now's the chance! _So, like the total chicken that I am, I used that opportunity to tell you. I am so sorry. I just can't even believe you let me in your house. I am so sorry. I'm such a bad friend. I am so sorry! I don't even-"

"Okay, shut up!" Belle interrupted and I listened. "Yes, you shouldn't have lied. But…" she looked away from me.

"I totally _was_ jealous that Skye likes you," she said. "I mean yeah, it hurt that you lied, because we're supposed to tell each other everything. But if we're being honest here… I was angry not only that you weren't truthful, but because of something that was probably completely out of your own hands. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have ignored you for so long."

I placed my hand on hers and squeezed it hard. "Don't even think you should be sorry for anything. I'm the one who did something wrong. You had every right to be mad at me."

Belle gave me a bit of a nervous smile. "Thanks for coming over. You know, I have been thinking and… I'm so happy for you and Skye."

"What?"

"You two are together, right? Jesse swears that somebody saw the both of you make out under the bleachers. Not exactly classy, but what floats your boat."

What a cliché! And of course Jesse would hear that sort of thing. Ugh, rumors.

"Skye and I are not together," I said, with an emphasis on the 'not'.

"But what about the whole rock star love song in the lounge? Everyone _thinks_ you guys are together."

I guess that would be the conclusion everyone jumped to. Just like Blake did. There was no other sort of public announcement that Skye and I had saying that I rejected him.

"I talked to him earlier today. We decided to just be 'mates'. Anyway, does that mean you and Gaia are in a relationship now or something?"

Belle scoffed. "Goddess no!" She shuddered a little. "I mean, kissing him was fun and all but… Gaia is so not the type of guy I want to get involved with seriously. We talked it out. It was a total one-time thing."

She reached over to the bed and randomly chose a packet of chocolates. She ripped it open and starting popping some in her mouth. She offered me some and I accepted.

"Great chocolate," she remarked. After she was done, she licked and fingers and said, "Okay… you'd better not be lying about not dating Skye…" I flinched a little, only because she had never doubted me like that before, until I broke her trust.

"I still do have feelings for him," Belle admitted. "I mean, I made my peace with you two being together. I was going to tell you that, and then I was just planning to scarf down anything I felt until it went away."

I went 'aw' in my head. It was so sweet. Belle was willing to ignore her own feelings for my happiness. It was pretty unhealthy, but sweet nonetheless. I told her as much and she laughed. I also told her that I was still rooting for her and Skye.

I put the packet of chocolates back on the bed. I needed to get something off my chest - the thing that inspired me to take the plunge and come over to apologize. "Belle…" I said. "I have another confession to make. Most of this transpired when we weren't talking to each other. Mostly today."

Belle sat up straighter, noting the slight uneasiness in my tone, and asked, "What is it?"

I looked heavenward and closed my eyes. "Blake Tarragon is my soulmate," I muttered. I sort of hoped she didn't hear me. I mean, I was crazy about Blake, but up until today, I didn't know it. Belle didn't know it. I just prayed that she wasn't going to freak out.

She totally did.

"What the frick, Addie!" she screamed - except she didn't say frick. "Are you being serious right now?"

I nodded reluctantly.

She hit my arm and screamed a little more. "I always knew you were _so_ into him. Anyone who knows you could totally tell. But soulmates?! Tell me everything! Like now!"

There was no way she always thought I liked Blake. I didn't even know myself, until freaking now.

"Hey, what do you mean by 'knew you were _so_ into him'? You thought I hated the guy. And I did!" I retaliated reproachfully.

Belle rolled her eyes. "Have you seen the way you look at him? Anyone with a brain could tell you wanted to totally suck his face off. Hello? Eye sex, much? I just kept quiet because I knew you would protest."

My mouth hung open. "Eye sex? I was not that obvious about it! I _hated _him!"

Belle gave me a bit of a pitiful look. "Sweetie," she said mockingly. "You were so in denial. Your mind and your words might have expressed you hated him, but you body language said you knew exactly what you wanted."

I sighed. "I know," I said. I was quite impressed that she knew all this time, but I still had more to tell her. "Also… I sort of _did_ suck his face off. Well, not that crudely, but you get the picture."

It was Belle's turn to have her mouth hang open. She hit me on the arm again. "Geez Addie! I ignore you for like one week and you make out with a man about to married. You total home-wrecker!"

I was actually feeling pretty horrible about the whole Blake-Carla thing, but I laughed. Belle knew how to make me feel better, even if she was insulting me to do it.

"So you two are really soulmates?" she asked.

I nodded quietly.

"What are you guys going to do?"

I threw myself onto Belle's bed, into the piles of everything, grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. I came up for breath and said, "I don't know. Blake doesn't know. He's thinking about things."

Then I proceeded to gush to Belle about everything I needed to gush about. I complained, gushed a little more, and complained a little more. I blabbed and blabbed and Belle listened. We burned through about half our snacks in the process.

When we were done, Belle asked, "Do you want to stay over tonight? It's late."

It was late, and I was so happy she offered. I had brought a bunch of my clothes over to Belle's a long time ago (and she had a bunch of her stuff at my place) in case we had any impromptu sleepovers. We'd have to drop by my house for my school things in the morning but that wasn't going to be a problem. I had expected so much less out of this night. It was such a relief to know that Belle wasn't the type to cause unnecessary drama. She was too good of a person.

In the midst of our sleepover and movies, I hatched up a little plan. I was totally going to set her and Skye up, and I knew exactly how I was going to do it.


	22. Chapter 22: Operation Bad-Code-Name

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p>Hey! So I realized I hadn't answered some things in the last chapter, so…<p>

To: caitielynnlynn, yes! I read The Secret Circle, and then watched it when it came out. I'm still a bit bummed it got cancelled. Also, I actually was trying to draw that parallel with the leaves and water! I've been trying to draw a lot of parallels with Blake/Addie and LJ Smith works. Hehe.

To: lollipop addict, I think you mean One and the Same from the movie Princess Protection Program? (That song is in my head now, thank you very much :p) It wasn't Hannah, it was Demi and Selena. Gosh, I loved their friendship back then. AND OMG IKR ABOUT THE WHOLE STRANGE FATE DEAL. I'm so excited but how long am I going to wait?! All the rumors of the whole thing being 1000pages+. AHHH!

You guys are always too awesome with your reviews :)

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. And just as another early warning, I might take a little extra time with the next one (maybe, maybe not, but we'll see). Don't be mad if I do!

Love you all!

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><p><span>Chapter 22<span>

Belle and I were back to normal and everything in the universe was in its rightful place. On Thursday morning we cruised to school in her trusty blue convertible, just like old times. We had made up so fast that it was almost like nothing changed. I was more than elated to have my best friend back. We managed to catch up on everything we'd missed out on one another during the week we hadn't talked. She told me all about how she had to listen to Jesse prattle on about everybody in school over and over again. Apparently, besides Jesse and a relatively uneventful Out of the Circle activity session with Gaia, nothing much else happened with her. She also added that she had actually tried to come up to _me_ and apologize about getting mad a few times - but got scared and backed out. I knew she wasn't making it up to try and score points with me or something low and grimy like that. Firstly, she had no reason to, and secondly, it was just the sort of thing that she would do. She was truly that kind of insanely _good_ person. Perhaps not a very brave one though – ha ha ha, because she backed out… like I did a bazillion times. Okay, not funny.

During the drive, I was thinking back to all that ranting I had done about Blake. I told her about that day when he joked about us being soulmates, when he wasn't actually joking. I told her about his many unexpected skills and traits that I uncovered one by one. I expressed how jealous I was of Carla the moment I saw him give her that ring – even if I was too thickheaded to realize as it was happening. I described everything that led to our kiss in the park. I even managed to squeak out what I had thought about him on the first day of school. I discovered and dissected my feelings for Blake as I let everything spew at her.

After quenching my thirst for Blake-babbling, I had moved on to some other topics – such as my mom's necklace. I pulled it out from under my shirt and showed it to her. I explained how I got it and told her about the strange dream that came after. She gawked at it for a while, stating that it was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever laid eyes on. Then she discussed the dream with me.

"Are you sure it was a projection?" she asked.

I shook my head. "It could have been. It also could have been a vision or something. It could have been anything. I'm not even sure if the woman was my mom."

"That's so weird. Who else could it be?"

"I don't know…"

"Do you think it's some sort of bad omen?"

We talked a little more but never reached a proper conclusion about the dream. However, Belle arrived to one about the necklace itself. She told me it was too gorgeous to hide from the world and keep under my shirt. I hadn't really thought about why I had been tucking it away in the first place, so I obliged. I did face one snag due to this decision though, during the first class of the day.

Carla locked eyes with me and said, "Way to aim for antique-chic. _Nice_ necklace, loser."

I had no idea whether Blake had spoken to her or not. Judging by the fact that she wasn't choking me or trying to murder me in some other violent way, I assumed that he hadn't. Either way, I didn't really want to get into it with Carla – partly because I was just so sick of her, but mostly because I was actually feeling horribly guilty that I kissed her fiancé. So I shut up, let her have that snarky comment, and took my seat. She just looked smugly satisfied with herself. Whatever.

During our lunch break, I made a beeline for Skye's locker, hoping to find him there. Luckily enough, I caught him just as he closed it and prepared to walk off.

"Skye, hey," I said as I popped right in front of him. I think I even managed to startle him. That's a pretty nifty thing to be able to do to a vampire. Lamia, no less.

"Hey," he said, instantly flashing me a warm smile. His eyes stooped down to my amulet. "Nice necklace." Skye, unlike Carla, didn't say it with a mountain load of sarcasm in his voice.

"Thanks," I said, smiling back. He was always racking up those compliments. I was going to owe him some pretty soon.

"Anything you need?" he asked.

Yes there was definitely something I needed. I was setting operation Get-Skye-To-Fall-Madly-In-Love-With-Belle in action. Yeah, I know, total mouthful – but I'm not good with cool code names.

"I was thinking that I could take up your offer of lasagna and tea, but with a little twist," I said.

Skye raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Are you free tomorrow? I want to bring a close friend to help me sample and critique your cooking," I said playfully.

"Close friend?" he said just as playfully. "You mean, Belle? That fittie you brought over to my party?"

Fittie huh? I was _so_ telling Belle he said that.

"You're over me already?" I feigned a hurt expression and brought a hand over my heart.

Skye laughed. "Don't get jealous Addie, you rejected me remember? This ship has sailed." He made a waving motion with his arm.

I smiled. I was at ease with our banter, and unimaginably glad that Skye kept to his word of being friends. He was such a great person, just like Belle was. They were so perfect for each other in that way.

"Well?" I asked.

Skye brought a hand up to his chin, pretending to consider this very hard. "I'm _really_ busy," he began, "but I think I can fit you lot to my hectic schedule." He winked. "How about we all go over to my house right from school? I've got a good kitchen the both of you can critique me from."

"That's perfect," I said.

"Meet you both at the doors after class tomorrow."

I nodded. I couldn't wait to tell Belle. I waved goodbye to Skye and went to find her to do just that.

"If you've got anything planned for tomorrow," I said. "Cancel."

Belle's eyebrows knitted. "Why?"

I gave her a coy smile. "We're going over to Skye's place."

"Is he having another party?" she asked. "OMG, I have nothing to wear! We're going have to go shopping…" she went on a mini rant - incredibly enthusiastically if I might add. Man, did Skye fuel a lot of energy out of her.

I cut her mid-way and said, "No, he's not having a party."

"He's not?" she asked, looking a little disappointed now. Oh Belle.

"You and I are going over to hang out – just the three of us." The disappointment was gone faster than it came. I'm pretty sure she would have preferred if I had said, "just the two of you," but she was going to have to make do with three for now. They needed to get better acquainted first anyway. I was just the glue and catalyst to push them to it. Operation Get-Skye-To-Fall-Madly-In-Love-With-Belle was officially a go.

I explained what we were going to do, then I told her about that fittie comment he made and she turned _so_ red. It was too adorable.

I was glad I had all this Skye and Belle stuff to keep my mind off Blake. He and I ended up not interacting for the entire day. We were too busy in class (we shared only one of them anyway), and I didn't see him in the hallways. I wanted to find him and run to him. I wanted him to pull me close and tell me that everything was going to be okay. I wanted him to say that he got rid of Carla and his parents and their engagement, with no repercussions whatsoever. I didn't just want him - I needed him.

It was so strange how my opinion of him had changed so drastically. Well, at least consciously.

After school, as I was about to head back home with Belle, I spotted Blake. He was with Carla, and they were just walking together. They weren't holding hands, and they weren't attached at the hip. They weren't kissing and being disgusting – like they used to way back when. He just looked dreadfully serious, and Carla seemed to be backing off. But they were still walking _together_, and that made my stomach lurch. It confirmed that he hadn't talked to her yet. It meant that Blake and I were a secret – just some run of the mill, dirty little secret. It settled on me just how awful that actually felt.

_He's in love with Carla!_ A little voice in my head screamed. _You aren't soulmates!_ _You imagined the whole thing, because you're a stupid, promiscuous girl!_ It pushed.

It hit me that I was being insecure about Blake Tarragon. I faltered a little. I felt like every other wannabe flake in NWA that claimed to be 'in love' with him. I felt like all those other girls who took one look at that award winning smile, and swooned. In that moment, I completely forgot that 'douchebag' Blake was just an act. I felt like I had somehow fallen victim to his deceptive charms.

When Blake's gaze fell onto mine, I tried to keep a blank expression. But I think I failed - the quiver I felt on my lip was a good tell. I hoped he didn't see. I decided not to stick around long enough to find out. I just grabbed Belle and pulled us out of the building to the parking lot.

"Slow down!" she screeched when we reached her car. "What happened?"

I had no idea what happened. Well, that's a lie, because I did know. I was suddenly getting raging jealous girlfriend issues, when Blake wasn't even my boyfriend. It was irrational and weak, and I needed more time to think about it. "I'm letting it stew first. Can we just go home?"

Belle knew that this meant I was done talking for now, and she wasn't going to push.

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><p>At home, I buried myself in homework. I didn't get a chance to do anything on Wednesday, for many reasons, so I had to catch up. When I was done, I had a nice dinner with my dad and went back to my room to busy myself again. This time, it was with operation Get-Skye-To-Fall-Madly-In-Love-With-Belle.<p>

I needed to solidly plan everything and write it down, so I did. I brought out a yellow legal pad I used for random scribbling and started there.

I knew that Skye's estate was huge, so there was a lot of opportunity in terms of scenery. Sure, we'd start with the lasagna in the kitchen, and Belle would completely melt as he dazzled her with that impressive culinary prowess of his. Then we'd have an adorable tea session somewhere picturesque, and pretend to be all snobby and British (jokingly of course) – and Skye would play along because he's chill like that. I would probably just excuse myself to the bathroom every now and then to give them alone time. Skye would think I'd have a bladder the size of a peanut, but it would be totally worth it if it meant he and Belle could possibly start some steamy sparks.

A new idea formed in my head. I thought that I could tell Belle to pack a swimsuit – preferably a sexy bikini - and I could force them over to the pool or the lake. Just as they'd plunge in and get wet, I'd make a final excuse to go home to leave them alone for good.

I snickered at my brilliant plan and texted Belle about the bikini immediately. I added a few more ingenious ideas to my legal pad, and when I was satisfied, I checked my alarm clock for the time. I nearly jumped back when it read a quarter-past-midnight. I hadn't known just how long I was obsessing over the whole thing.

I let out an involuntary yawn, when I let the time sink in, and went to the bathroom to get ready to sleep. Just as I came out and turned out the light, I heard a tap on my window. I froze for a beat or two. Was something out there? I waited a few more seconds but when nothing happened, I wrote it off as my late night imagination, and climbed into bed.

There was another tap, and this time, I was sure I hadn't imagined it. Okay, I was a little spooked. There was something outside and it was trying to get my attention. Without turning the light on, I slowly skidded over to my window, guards raised up to infinity and beyond. I mentally prepared myself, and sought comfort in the fact that I had awesome telekinetic powers. I just hoped I could somehow channel some love to fuel it, instead of the fear that was beginning to take over.

I felt my chest tighten as I slowly pushed open the window to peer outside.

Be calm, Addie. Be calm, I thought.

I took a quick sweep, and saw a figure perched right below, on the side grass patches of my house. I was about to blast with everything I had, but stopped myself when I recognized who the figure was.

"_Blake?_"


	23. Chapter 23: Late Night

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p>Ahahaha, guys, I'm sorry I keep ending it like I do... but I can't help it! I always love a good cliffhanger. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!<p>

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><p><span>Chapter 23: <span>

"Blake!" I repeated. "What are you doing here?" I shrieked while trying hard to keep my volume to a minimum. It was late and I didn't want to wake the neighbors. Or my dad.

Especially my dad.

I still hadn't fully explained everything that had gone down between Blake and me. I was sure he probably had some kind of sneaking suspicion but he didn't pry. He always let me wait until I was ready to talk about something.

"It took you long enough to open the window, I almost pelted you with another pebble," Blake whisper-shouted back.

"Well, I almost used my witch powers on your pebble throwing butt! If you weren't a Night Person, I could've exposed us all! What are you doing here?"

I had my eyes trained on his shadowy figure, but I couldn't really see his face. I wasn't blessed with his vampire eyesight, and I had to squint hard just to try to keep track. The streetlights helped a little but they were too far away.

Blake didn't answer my question. Instead, he said, "Take a few steps back!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

I made a small sound of annoyance, but I backed away like he asked. In a flash, Blake jumped up, and climbed over the window, right into my room.

I regretted not taking a few more steps, because Blake Tarragon's body was now only centimeters from mine. There wasn't enough space between us to fit a book through. It was just as dark in my room as it was outside, but when I looked up to face him, I could make out the color of his eyes perfectly. They seemed to be blue tinted with the slightest flecks of silver, but that could have been a trick of the light (or lack of).

He gave me a smile that was a mix between relaxed and confident. My knees went weak. I literally semi-wobbled for a bit and I cursed in my head at my stupid body parts for not holding me up like they were designed to.

Still, I was determined to act unfazed by his presence and proximity – because I was mad at him. It was late, and I was sleepy, so I didn't really remember why… But nonetheless, I was mad.

I squared my features as I put some distance between us, and asked for the third time, "What are you doing here?"

I might have said it a little too harshly, because Blake flinched.

"I uh…" He ruffled a hand through his blonde hair and took a step forward. "I needed to see you."

My pulse rose slightly at that.

"Why?" My voice came out a little shaky. I was about to curse at myself again when Blake took another step.

"What do you mean 'why'?"

Blake got even closer now, and we were back to being just centimeters apart. My breathing turned shallow and slightly irregular. I couldn't hold eye contact anymore – it was too much. I looked down but my field of vision landed right onto his lips – which wasn't any better – so I turned my head away to look at the calendar I pinned up on my wall, above my desk.

That helped me focus and remember that I was mad at him. I thought back to the hallway when Blake and Carla were walking together. They might not have been wrapped in each other's embrace, but it was still clear they were a couple. "Because you're in love with Carla," I muttered bitterly.

"What?"

He brought his hand up and brushed his fingers on my cheek. Instantly, I dissolved into putty. The sparks were back and my vision went so pink that I had to shut my eyes. I didn't fight it, so the feeling was nice rather than shocking. My brain started to fry and what little focus I managed to attain was gone.

"W-what are we talking about?" I breathed out as his hand lingered down to my chin. He angled my face up slowly. I opened my eyes to see Blake looking as intense as I felt.

"I can't recall," he whispered.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I pushed myself forward and kissed him. Blake responded immediately by sliding his fingers through my hair before settling them on the back of my head. My hands lingered up to his chest and trailed slowly to the collar of his shirt. I grabbed the rim forcefully.

With that kiss my inhibitions about Blake and Carla disappeared. Everything became warm and reassuring.

_I love you_, Blake said in my mind. It was loud and clear, and this time, he had every intention to tell me.

It took me a little by surprise, so what I ended up saying was, _you're so cheesy. _I didn't mean it as a bad thing. But he came over to my house after midnight, threw pebbles at my window, and confessed his feelings.

I felt Blake's lips shape into a smug grin. _I know you like it, Rosewood._

I had to tear away from our kiss to laugh. He was right. I _did_ like it. It might have been cheesy, cliché, and done before in many books that I've read. But it felt damn good that it was actually happening to me and not Juliet, or Rapunzel.

I beamed up at him, and his eyes were sparkling now.

I pulled Blake's hands down from my head so that I could comfortably wrap my arms around his neck. It was just something I really enjoyed doing. He used the opportunity to tug me closer by my waist.

"So… you still haven't properly answered my question," I said.

"What question?" He asked – a little distracted. I could tell he wanted to go right back to kissing me. I was about to give in too, but I had to know. What possibly made him come all the way over to my house so late at night? It wasn't exactly like having a snack craving that could be fulfilled by a trip to the refrigerator.

"Why did you come over?"

Blake tensed up. "I saw the way you looked at me today."

"Oh." Damn it, I had forgotten all about that. Yes, there was no doubt now that Blake was absolutely in love with me, but it didn't change the fact that he was still tied to Carla.

"We're connected, Addie. I felt what you felt and… it was horrible." Blake pulled away from me. "I was going to wait until I saw you again in school… but I didn't know what I would say when I did." He walked over to the window and looked out. "I know. I haven't talked to Carla. I also haven't talked to my parents. I've only been thinking and thinking."

I stood unmoving, and just watched Blake.

He huffed out angrily. "How am I supposed to tell them that I found my soulmate, and it's not Carla Redfern?" He curled up a fist and slammed it into the wall. He used a great deal of restraint because there didn't seem to be any damage.

"Blake-" he didn't let me finish.

"I knew it wasn't going to work, but I had to do it anyway. There was nothing else I could do." Blake turned around to face me again. "But then I had another idea that might be crazy enough..." he trailed off.

"What is it?"

"I was going to ask you to run away with me."

My breath caught in my throat and I almost choked. But then I noticed something strange about that sentence. "Wait, 'was'? As in, past tense?"

Blake nodded. "I couldn't do that to you, Addie. I couldn't ask that of you." He walked up to me and took my hand. "You have people you love and care about. I'm not going to ask you to leave them." He used his thumb to draw circles in my palm, which made my head spin.

"So I'm just going to talk to everyone tomorrow, one by one, starting with Carla. I'm going to lay it out and hope for the best." He brought up his other hand to tuck a stray hair behind my ear. "I just needed to see you before I did that. I needed to spend time with you before anything goes bad."

He took a deep breath. "I _needed_ to tell you that I love you."

My heart swelled up to the size of Jupiter and threatened to burst out of my rib-cage. Oh what this boy was doing to me.

I leaned in and hugged him.

"I love you," he started whispering in my ear. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

When I first kissed Blake in the park, I had wondered: Was I only doing it because of the soulmate principle? I kissed him and I saw the chord. I felt him become a part of my very being. He completed me like a half of a puzzle I didn't even know I needed. We were soulmates, and there was no changing that. We were permanently tied to one another even if we didn't necessarily want to be. We were supposed to be perfect for each other in every possible way and that once we'd had a taste of what it would be like to be with them, we would never be happy apart.

Then I wondered a little more: Were Blake and I perfect for each other because of our own free will or simply by design? Because for a healthy portion of the interactions I had with Blake, I thought I hated him. Yes, I had created for myself an absolute mental abjuration from even considering Blake as a member of the opposite sex, and a potential for anything other than a loathed enemy. Consciously, I was resolved and resigned to keeping as far away from him as possible.

Yet deep down, I was falling for him - little by little - every day.

I stepped the day he showed me that he cared - when he offered to drive me home for the first time. I fumbled every time he was close enough to me to make it hard to breathe. I tripped that day at the art center when he bothered to actually show up for our session, despite the problems he was facing. I tumbled each time I learnt something new about him that surprised me. And ultimately, I fell when we had that crazy adventure at the swimming pool and kissed at the park. I fell deep.

So, I had to finally wonder: Did it even matter if we were soulmates or not? Did it matter if it was fate, or destiny?

Now, being in this moment with Blake as I held him close, and he held me back fiercely – I didn't care. All I knew for sure was one thing.

"I love you too," I said to Blake.

"Yeah?" he asked as if he was having trouble believing me.

"Yeah," I confirmed.

I walked over to my bed and sat down. I motioned for Blake to join me. "Come here," I said.

He eyed me warily, but didn't move. He even seemed a little nervous.

"Get that thought out of your head, Tarragon," I joked.

Blake didn't seem to catch on because he quickly said, "I wasn't thinking that!"

I laughed. "Goddess, Blake, relax. I was kidding. Just come sit with me." When Blake still didn't budge, I said, "I trust you."

It took a few more seconds before Blake finally sighed and gave in. He nestled himself carefully on my many pillows at the side of the bed. When he was done, I scooted to curl up into him. I tugged myself under his arm and lay my head on his chest. He didn't object.

"You said you wanted to spend time with me. So… let's talk," I said. "I want to know everything about you."

And so we talked.

I started with the basic things - things like favorite food, favorite color, and places to travel to in the future. Eventually the conversation took its own ground and evolved. It flowed easy and didn't have any awkward cracks. I learned a lot about him, including the fact that we had the same taste in music. We joked, we laughed, and we got to know so much more about each other. Sometimes he sneaked a kiss or two and then we went back to talking. This went on for hours until I fell asleep.

When I woke up, Blake was gone, and it was time for school.


	24. Chapter 24: Confrontation

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

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><p>Once again, sorry this took a while - I was in a sort of block for a bit about certain things. Also, I just thought I should address and apologise for all the random errors you might find in my stuff. I have no editor or beta, and sometimes I gloss over and don't catch these mistakes! Thanks for still reading! :p<p>

To lollipop addict: I did know that Tarragon is a spice. Hehe. Urh, I vaguely remembered that Night people usually had nature names, in general. But for lamia, yes wood-like names supposedly made them stronger. But I think the nature thing (including animals) applied to all Night people. And I think wolves were generally just named variants of the word "wolf". Haha. Anyway, I started this story like 3 years ago and I didn't pay too much attention to the names. Oh well :p And btw, I love it when you ramble!

Feedback like that helps shape my story a lot. My story stretched into so many more chapters than I thought it would, and a lot of it was because of reviews and feedback!

Love you all! Enjoy~

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><p><span>Chapter 24<span>

On the first period of Friday, I noticed something strange. Skye wasn't in class. Like Blake, he normally never missed classes. I hadn't even seen him tardy ever since he arrived to NWA.

The first thought that crossed my mind was, don't tell me Skye is getting engaged to someone too. But I brushed it off. One late/missing vampire didn't always equal to some kind of arranged marriage. So then I wondered if Skye avoided coming to school just to blow Belle and me off - it was plausible, but I knew Skye wasn't exactly that type of person. He'd only been nice to me ever since we got to know each other. Then he asked me out despite who I was. He had stayed so civil even after I told him I wanted to just be friends. There was no way he was bitter about me rejecting him, was there?

All through morning classes, I looked around - in between periods and etc. – just in case he popped out somewhere. He didn't.

My mind began wondering off. Maybe he planned to come around after school just to pick us up. Maybe he really was getting married, because of the whole Night World old powers rumor thing. Maybe (more positively) he was at home planning the perfect day for Belle and me. Gosh, I wanted it to be that last one.

My day-dreaming and optimistic hopefulness wore off when lunch came around. Belle and I were heading over to the lounge and she was chatting away about the lesson she'd just had. She kept walking and talking when I received a message on my phone. I stopped dead in my tracks after I opened it and saw a picture of Skye.

The lighting was bad, but I could make out his face. He was tied down to a wooden chair, seemingly unconscious, and definitely in trouble. The background was blurry, but I thought I saw a hint of metal. Below the picture, there was text that read:

_Surrender the amulet by sunset, or your boyfriend dies._

That was it. No drop off point, no name, no reason.

My hand swiftly went up to my mother's necklace, and I held the pendent shakily. When Belle noticed I wasn't by her side anymore, she turned around and scurried back.

"Hello? You're supposed to be walking _with_ me," she said in a chirpy manner, not noticing much yet.

I bit down hard on my lip, but I tried to keep a straight face. I couldn't stop glancing down to the picture on my phone. Each time I did, I saw a new detail. Is that bruise on his cheek? Isn't that rope a bit too tight? Wait a minute, is that… _blood_?

And so with every new detail, I began to panic. "Belle," I croaked out, not sure what else to say.

Belle had been waiting – a little impatiently as she was tapping her foot- but her demeanor changed at once. "Addie, I know that look. What the _hell_ is wrong?"

I didn't want to say it, so I placed my phone into her hand. She brought it up to view. "Addie, you could just tell-" she stopped talking once she saw Skye.

She took a few moments to process.

"Is this some kind of _sick_ joke?" she finally said.

I shook my head to indicate that I had no clue.

Would Skye possibly be playing some kind of prank just to wind me up? Perhaps Carla had put him up to this somehow. They were friends. Maybe Skye liking me had been a ruse all this time. It would make so much more sense.

I was stunned. Yes, it all came together now. There was no way that Skye was such a nice person. He and Carla were definitely playing with me. I shook my head again, but this time, it was at myself – because I should have known all along.

I took the phone back from Belle and shoved it into my pocket. "Come with me," I said.

Blake told me that he was going to talk to Carla about everything during lunch. He'd said that he'd pull her to the side of the shed next to the football field for privacy. It was a corner that couldn't be seen from anywhere in the school. He also reluctantly added that it was where they used to make out.

"Where are we going?" Belle asked.

"To find Carla."

She understood and followed.

When we reached the shed, I heard Blake and Carla arguing.

"What do you mean _soulmate_?" Carla screeched right before she saw me. "YOU!" she growled. She looked just about to pounce on me, but I reacted quicker.

I knew how to channel my powers now, and I could be furious while thinking of love at the same time. It worked.

I used my telekinesis to grab Carla by the throat and throw her against the shed. It took very little effort. She was pinned and trying to claw at her neck to breathe, while obviously astonished at my control.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" I shouted at her, I made my grip on her neck tighter.

"Addie, what are you doing?" Blake said concernedly. I wasn't sure if it was for me or for Carla. I just shot him a look of daggers and said, "Not right now, Blake."

I glared back at Carla, she looked almost purple. She was trying to cough, and I realized she couldn't answer me if I didn't let off her for a while.

I loosened my grip on her neck, but kept her body pinned to the shed.

"Leave _you_ alone?" she choked out. "You're the one who's got her dirty little hands all over _my_ fiancé!"

I was about to try and strangle her again but I restrained myself. "This isn't about Blake, this is about Skye," I said with forced patience.

To my surprise, Carla looked confused for a second. She quickly went back to rage. "What, your other boy toy? You slut!"

I was going to lose my temper. "Cut the crap Carla, I know you set him up. Stop this stupid joke."

An ugly pissed look formed on Carla's face. "What the freak are you talking about? Set him up for what?" Carla scowled. "You're so delusional. You'd use any excuse to mess with me. I thought you'd at least have more dignity than to come after me after you pathetically tried to steal my man. You whore. The only joke here is you."

I was about to pick Carla up and slam her into the shed when Belle interrupted us. "Addie!" she said, making me pause to look at her.

"What?" I said angrily, but I softened when I saw how pale she was.

"I don't think she has anything to do with Skye," she said.

I scrunched my eyebrows. I picked my phone out of my pocket and almost threw the screen at Carla's face. "Explain this," I said.

I expected her to laugh and admit that I was right. I expected her to give in, and confess her plan. But she didn't do that.

Instead, she said, "Is that… _Skye_?" Then a genuine look of worry showed in her eyes.

I felt sick.

I let go of my telekinetic grip on Carla and backed away slowly. I clutched at my amulet again. "Someone wants it," I said softly.

"What, wants what?" Blake asked. He came over to look at my phone. Like, Belle, Carla, and me, Blake's face fell and twisted into complete shock and concern.

"Who would do this?" he asked, disgusted.

I thought back to the picture and noted how realistic it had looked. It would have taken some time – and a decent amount of money – to produce a fake. I reckoned that Skye just hired a make-up artist that was very skilled. But if Carla wasn't working with him… he couldn't be playing a prank - which meant that he was genuinely in trouble.

'Surrender the amulet by sunset, or your boyfriend dies.' Somebody had thought Skye and I were involved, and had gone great lengths to use it against me - for my necklace. I didn't even know what it did. My mom just vaguely said that it would protect me. What had she left out?

"They're going to kill him," I said, frozen on the spot as I realized what was going to happen next. "There's no address. There's no way to find him. There's that stupid deadline," I added. "Skye is going to die."

I started to panic, and my breath fell shallow. There was not enough oxygen now. I couldn't breathe.

It wasn't a cruel joke - it was all true. Skye had been kidnapped. It was really happening.

"He's going to die," I repeated, now hyperventilating. "I don't even know… why they want it… and he's going… to… die."

I trembled and sank into the ground. I held my hands over my eyes because I was starting to get light-headed.

Blake swooped down and wrapped an arm around me. "Addie, calm down," he said soothingly. "We'll find him. I just need you to breathe normally first."

He pulled my hands out of my face and made me look at him. "Relax," he said as he gazed into my eyes.

I felt the oxygen in the air again, and it filled up my lungs slowly. My breathing smoothed over and in a few minutes I was back to normal.

"Thanks," I said. He pulled us both up and kissed me on the forehead.

I turned to Carla, expecting her to jump me for that, but she didn't move. She was just standing still by the shed wall. She seemed distracted.

I looked back at Blake. He was calm and in-control. His serious 'thinking-face' had taken over. "What do we do?" I asked.

Blake tightened his jaw. "I think we could try and track him with a spell," he began. "You and Belle would have to do that."

I nodded. That made a lot of sense. Why did I have to panic before I thought of that? Of course, I could find Skye with a simple tracking spell. But wait, we'd need a personal item of his first.

Belle spoke up before I did. "Do you have something of Skye's that we could use?" she asked.

Blake thought about that. "Actually, no," he said. "I don't think I have anything."

"But you're his best friend," I said.

"Yeah but it's not like we exchange friendship bracelets during our free time." Blake laughed, a little eerily. He knew that we wouldn't be able to track Skye if we didn't have what we needed. And if we couldn't track him, we were back to square one.

Carla's voice piped up. "We could go over to his house and get something," she suggested.

That was actually a good and logical idea. I was about to tell Carla that, but Blake cut in and said, "No, we can't."

"Why not?" Belle, Carla, and I asked in unison. Blake jumped a little at this sudden synchronization but he kept his composure.

"Because his parents went out of town yesterday, and we can't get in the estate if no one is around. The place is charmed to keep anyone out without them or Skye."

I groaned. "What are we going to do?"

Then it dawned on me. "Hey, wait," I said. "I think I have something that might work."

Belle crossed her arms. "I thought you said you rejected him. Did he already give you something before that?"

"Sort of," I said. "I still have his jacket. I never gave it back."

Belle's eyes brightened. "That's perfect!"

Blake stepped up and said, "We have to leave school and get it now. There's no time to waste."

"Okay," I said as Belle nodded.

We were about to go to the parking lot when Carla called from behind us. "I'm going with you guys," she said. She loped over and caught up.

I faced her. "You don't have to." I didn't need Carla butting in and screwing anything up with drama.

But she looked determined. "Skye is my friend too," she said.

I sighed. "You still don't have to come."

"I'm going," she insisted.

I was about to argue when Belle stopped me. "Addie, just let her do whatever. The more time we waste on this, the less time we have to get to Skye." She had a point.

"Fine," I said.

Carla looked satisfied.

* * *

><p>We drove over in two cars to my house. Belle wanted us all to go in her car, but Carla told us that she wanted to drive in her own. We were about to tell her to get lost when she argued that if we were going to rescue Skye, it would be best to not to squeeze all five of us into Belle's convertible. She had a point so Belle, Blake, and I went together in one car, and we told Carla to follow behind by herself. She seemed a bit bitter, but she agreed and tailed us the whole way.<p>

Once we arrived, I immediately ran up to my room. My dad wasn't home so I didn't have to explain why I was skipping school. I dug into my closet and pulled out Skye's jacket. I had kept it in there and had constantly forgotten to bring it back to him. I was so glad that I did.

"Where do you keep the maps?" Belle asked, knowing that I had a few paper charts of our town.

"In the middle drawer of my desk," I instructed as I got Skye's jacket off the hanger.

Belle rummaged through and found a map she liked and spread it out on the table.

"I'll get the other stuff," I said and went out to find what we needed.

When I came back, Belle and I set everything up. Referring to one of my dad's books, we held hands and performed the spell. Carla and Blake just stood by the door.

It took a few tries because we had never done a tracking spell before, but finally it worked. It showed that Skye was somewhere right on the outskirts of town.

I gestured to Blake and Carla to come over and see.

"Where is that?" I asked no one in particular. I was trying to place what was in that area.

"Isn't that where the docks and those old abandoned warehouses are?" Carla said.

Abandoned warehouses, I thought. I remembered my dream instantly. But there couldn't be a connection, could there? Nah. I decided that it was just a coincidence.

"Do you know how to get there fast?" Belle asked Carla.

She nodded, "Yeah, I think so."

We took the map, just in case, and went back to our cars. This time, Carla led the way. I checked the map every once in a while to make sure we were going in the right direction and we were.

When we reached our destination, a wave of déjà vu filled me up. It was extremely unsettling. The entire place looked deserted.

I looked at the map and pointed to a warehouse on the far left. "That's the one," I said.

We all rushed over to it. It was a huge building made of metal - the kind that only had simple wooden frames to hold it up. The front doors were large and they were held closed by chains.

Blake looked at all of us and said, "I'm going to open it." He took the chains and snapped them free. Then he took a deep breath and pushed the doors through.

It seemed dark inside at first, but I saw that there was a light hanging in the middle, and it was turned on. It illuminated the surroundings slightly – just enough to get a glimpse of certain things. There were a few broken crates, but most of the warehouse was engulfed by shadows. Except… There was something at the end.

I squinted at it and realized it was a person strapped to a chair.

"Skye!" Belle said for me.

The four of us were about to run over to him when we heard footsteps. Blake put an arm around me protectively.

We looked around to check where the footsteps were coming from, but it seemed to echo from the walls and didn't indicate a particular location. Even Carla and Blake seemed to have a hard time pinpointing it. We stood in place as the footsteps got louder.

Suddenly, a figure formed into view right under the light in the middle of the room. I gasped.

"_Mom_?"

But the person who called out wasn't me.


	25. Chapter 25: The Past

_As a Night World Academy student and witch, Addie Rosewood has always dreamed about her soulmate. Her world crashes when unfortunate events lead her to realize her soulmate is the school's super-jock and ultimate jerk, Blake Tarragon._

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><p><strong>I have no rights andor ownership over the night world series in any way. The main characters in this story are my own creation.**

* * *

><p>Hehehehe, yes, I do love my cliffhangers, don't I? I have immensely enjoyed your theories about who's mother it may be. I hope you like what really happened. Oh well, you're going to find out~<p>

To lollipop addict: Nawww, you make me blush :p Also, the whole 'I will always find you' is my favorite thing about the Charmings. xD And yes (Ash Redfern) Daughters of Darkness (Ash Redfern) is pretty great isn't it? I've also (Ash Redfern) read it multiple times. :p

To Lollipoof: Ehehe, yeah the necklace... is very important. You'll find out just how important very soon.

Anyway, I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

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><p><span>Chapter 25<span>

Eve Redfern smiled. It was a knowing smile – one that had been trained with years of practice. Her lips curled mockingly, with a smirk that indicated she was in charge. Not many women would have been able to pull it off, but on Eve it was perfect – as if it were made just for her.

Carla somewhat resembled her mother – the blonde hair, sharp blue eyes, and a figure to die for. Eve did not look like a mother though. She seemed to have stopped the aging process in her late twenties – definitely not old enough to have a seventeen year old daughter. She was exactly how I remembered since the last time I saw her – prim, proper, and absolutely menacing.

"Hello Carla, missing school are we?" she said in a contrived lazy tone that was meant to seem casual and polite. Yet the sound of her voice made my skin crawl. Everything about Eve was prepared and calculated – like a disapproving aristocrat at a debutante ball. She was dressed the part too – not in a frilly dress of course, but a clean cut dress suit with pencil thin high heels. "I thought I raised you better than that."

Carla stepped in front, closer to Eve and asked, "What in the world are you doing?" Carla's voice was weak and scared. Despite the accusing nature of her words, it indicated an automatic submission toward her mother and a surrender of control.

Eve narrowed her heavy lashed eyes. "What does _look_ like I'm doing? I'm demanding a ransom for a kidnapping," she said patronizingly. "You have always been such a slow girl." The look on her face added, 'and disappointing too,' but she didn't need to say it out loud.

She shifted her gaze from Carla to me and raised a well-shaped brow when she noticed Blake's arm over my shoulder. "I see you've already lost Blake to a… witch." She made a 'tsk' noise, filled with disdain. She looked back at Carla. "Is it really too much to ask that you keep _one_ teenage vampire in your grasp?"

I was stunned silent. Carla's mother always knew exactly what to say to make the people around her feel uncomfortable.

"I-" Carla began, but she was quickly stopped short.

"Hush, Carla. I am speaking now. You know very well I don't like to be interrupted," Eve said coldly. She brought her opaque blue eyes to mine. "Addie, _dear_." Her voice was lazier once again. "It's been too long since I've seen you. You're looking quite like your mother these days," she said as she scrutinized me from toe to head. "Oh, but such a shame about your hair."

That struck a chord with me, but I put the sting aside to address the matter at hand. "What do you want?"

Eve laughed a light and careful laugh. "You know what I want," she answered flatly. "You read my message. That's why you're here. I was going to let you figure out where by yourself, and send you the address later if you failed. But you came over so quickly." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You always were much smarter than Carla. At least you have _that_ going for you."

I brought up a hand to hold my necklace. "Why do you want it?" I asked. I looked down to study the pendant. It was beautiful, but other than that it seemed extremely ordinary.

"Oh sweetheart," Eve said in a condescending manner. "You don't know what it does, do you?"

My head bobbed back up. "It's just supposed to protect me. I'm not sure from what, but I do know that."

Eve smiled once more. "I guess your mother never told you." She cast her eyes up, as if to recall a memory. "Well, she probably never had the chance, since she only found out what it truly does on the day she died."

"What does it do?"

Eve held out a manicured hand my way and said, "You'll find out once you hand it over."

"No." I automatically pulled it closer to my body. "Tell me what it does."

Eve's smile went away and she crossed her arms. "I don't think you're in a position to make demands at the moment."

As if on cue, four people shifted out of the shadows and into the light. They were Night people, judging by the black flower rings they were all wearing. They had been in the warehouse this whole time, just quiet and listening.

Goosebumps formed on my skin as I inspected each one of them. They all had heavy expressions that were very dark - ready to kill if they were commanded to. They were too far away for me to clearly see what their flowers represented, but they looked like… irises.

Vampires. We were up against vampires.

"Now," Eve said. "Hand it over."

The vampires were intimidating but I shook my head. "Tell me why you want it."

Eve pursed her lips. "Persistent, aren't you? Very much like your mother." She dusted some imaginary lint off her shoulder. "If you _must _know, I'm sure there's no harm in telling you. It's not like you're going anywhere anytime soon." She straightened her posture and began pacing. "You see, nature has been stirring up something lately…"

She was talking about the old powers. I should have known that it had to do with this whole war situation - something about the species. She prattled on about things I already knew, so I tuned out. Eve was distracted and this was my chance. She was off-guard and it was the only way we could attack. I glimpsed over at Belle and she knew what I was thinking. We were going to use our powers.

But Eve caught on and in a flash, someone pounced on me. I was knocked hard to the floor, and my head hit the ground. Black spots danced in my vision. Soon, the blackness took over entirely.

* * *

><p>"Wake up!"<p>

Azalea Rosewood's eyes popped open. She was disgruntled and her surroundings were blurry. Someone was shaking her.

"Wake up, Azalea!"

She looked over and saw a blonde head of hair. "Eve?" Her vision cleared up a bit, and confirmed that the person shaking her was in fact, Eve Redfern. "What are you doing in my bedroom?"

Eve Redfern scoffed, surprising Azalea. Normally Eve never did anything so unladylike. "We're not in your bedroom. We're in the office and everyone has already gone home," she said.

Azalea took a quick look around. Eve was right – they were in the office and Azalea had fallen asleep on her desk. She stood up, and rubbed her eyes.

"Eve, I just had the most… vivid dream," she said.

Eve rolled her eyes. "You know I don't care much for your dreams. They're always filled with nonsense. Honestly, you should get those strange ideas out of your head. You're better than that."

Azalea laughed. It was just like Eve to give that sort of backhanded comment. "No, listen," Azalea said. She was glad that the office had been cleared out because what she had to say was not suitable for the ears of Day people. "I think I finally know where I'm from. I didn't just have any crazy dream. I think I had a vision, or a projection, or something – but it was real."

Eve kept quiet, encouraging Azalea to go on. "I know I found the Night World when I was very little because of my powers… and my necklace. I've always had my necklace, and all I ever knew was that it belonged to my parents and that it would protect me."

"Yes we all know about your charming little backstory. Get to the point," Eve said impatiently.

"It's not just some trinket I inherited, Eve." Azalea looked at Eve straight in the eyes. "It was forged by Hellewise herself."

"What? How would you know that?" Eve lost her equanimity to gawk at her friend.

"I saw it in my dream. It's supposed to protect the wearer from… dragons," Azalea said.

"Dragons? Why dragons?"

"I don't know. But it's extremely powerful. Supposedly, a dragon's fire will not damage the wearer at all."

Eve returned to her usually levelheaded self and cleared her throat. "Why in the world would you, a simple lost witch, have such an extraordinary amulet?"

"Because I'm not just a simple lost witch." Azalea smiled. "I'm a direct descendant of Hellewise. I'm a not a Rosewood, I'm a Harman."

"Excuse me?" Eve uttered.

Azalea just kept on smiling. She hugged her friend and said, "Eve, we're family!"

When Azalea broke away, Eve was speechless, but she seemed to be thinking. Azalea jabbered on. "I saw it like a flash of lightning. My lineage down from Hellewise to me – and to my daughter. All of them were women, but they broke away a long time ago without knowing. That's why nobody could tell me what my necklace did. It had been too long since anyone who knew could explain."

Azalea shook Eve. "I'm a lost Harman!"

Eve pulled herself away from Azalea's grasp and a very stern expression took over her face. "We have to surrender it to the council at once," she said.

Azalea stumbled. "What? What does the council have to do with this?"

"Your necklace is not something you should be holding to yourself. If it was made by Hellewise and if it is as powerful as you say, you should bring it up to the council," Eve said.

Azalea backed away slightly, and hung on to her necklace. "No," she said. "This belongs to me. It's the only thing I have left of my family. Let me think about it or something. I've got to talk to my husband. And to Addie. I have to tell them."

Eve took a step forward and said with a very commanding tone, "Azalea, stop messing around. We have to give it in first. Hand it over."

Azalea took a bigger step back, but she hit the wall of her cubicle. "Stop it, Eve. If I decide to give it to them, I'll do it myself."

Eve shook her head. "I can't trust you to do that, give it to me."

Azalea was shocked. What had come over her friend? Why wasn't she excited to learn that they were family? Sure, it was by a blood-tie ceremony and Eve was only a Redfern by marriage, but it counted nonetheless.

Eve suddenly grabbed at the necklace. She caught a part of the string in her hand. Azalea realized she was about to yank it from her neck. Oh no, Eve couldn't do that. One thing that Azalea had learned from her dream was that the chain was too strong to be broken – even by a vampire.

"Wait, Eve no-" But it was too late. Eve yanked the chain hard, expecting it to break off and end up in her hand. But all Eve ended up doing was pulling at it much stronger than any human could take. The result was something Eve hadn't expected. Something she hadn't calculated for, as it happened too quickly.

Azalea's neck broke at the force and she tumbled into Eve's arms.

She was dead.

Eve dropped her friend and hopped back. The necklace… it was gone. She shifted Azalea's lifeless body and checked properly. For some reason it disappeared. Well, that was going to be a problem.

But Eve had another problem at the moment – one that was more pressing. She accidentally killed her friend. This wasn't very good. The council was not going to be pleased. Azalea had made quite a respectable reputation for herself in the Night World, and she would be missed.

Still, Eve Redfern prided herself in being able to think on her feet. She had to cover up the murder somehow – she was not going to take any chances. She peered around the office slowly until an idea came to mind. When her eyes landed on a loose wire, she solidified her plan. She was going to create a fire. It would burn up Azalea's corpse, hopefully enough to hide her true cause of death.

She went over and tampered with the wire then moved on to the office kitchen. She had to find some kind of oil. When she found what she wanted, she took a match from the drawer and walked back out. She was thankful that the office did not have any cameras, saving her the hassle of meddling with the tapes.

Eve walked over to Azalea and began pouring the oil generously. "Sorry, Azalea," she said. "It's nothing personal. I just have to look out for myself." When she was done pouring, she lit the match. "I will have to get that necklace though. I'll find out what you did with it. It's going to help me gain some ranks in our community." She threw the lit match on Azalea's body, and it caught in flames.

Eve dusted off her hands. "I may be a Redfern, but there are many of us, and I was originally a Hawthorne anyway. Being a woman, I'm not regarded very well as one to look up upon. Unlike you witches and your traditions, the men rule the vampires. I hope you understand."

Eve took the oil and poured it over the rest of the office. When she was done she took the bottle and matches, and put them back into place in the kitchen.

"ADDIE!" a voice roared out of nowhere.

Eve didn't seem to hear it. She just walked out of the office, as if there weren't a raging fire behind her.

"ADDIE! WAKE UP!"

My eyes snapped open. I must have had another dream. I looked around frantically trying to place where I was.

It was the warehouse.

"Addie!" Blake shouted. He was sitting on the ground next to me, and his hands were clamped behind his back by… wooden cuffs.

Belle was on my other side. She was cuffed down by normal metal ones. Wait a minute… it wasn't any metal. It was iron.

That was when I realized that I was restrained as well. I felt the cold iron digging uncomfortably on my skin. It was blocking my abilities.

I looked up and saw Eve, just watching me, as if she'd patiently been waiting for me to wake up. Carla was standing next to her, looking down at her feet.

What happened while I was knocked out?

But… my dream. Oh Goddess, my dream. It wasn't just any dream, it was a projection.

I felt horrified as I saw Eve Redfern more clearly than I ever had in my entire life. I felt my lip quiver when I said to her, "You killed my mother."


End file.
